- From: Charles McCathieNevile <charles@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2001 07:21:09 -0400 (EDT)
- To: "Charles F. Munat" <chas@munat.com>
- cc: WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>, <fgaine@frontend.ie>
Skip navigation is more important to the non-visual user who not only is relying on the keyboard to step through each link, but does not know anything about the layout of the page until s/he has read through it. It is a lower level, but still important, for the user who is relying on keyboard-only access, but is a visual user, such as myself. When combined with magnification it starts ot approach the same degree of difficulty as for the non-visual user. One of the problems is that many browsers provide only the most simplistic navigation schemes - step through each link in turn, for example - rather than the ability to navigatge the structure effectively. For an example of the latter, consider iCab (provides this through a context menu on the Page), Amaya (provides a "table of Contents" view that is navigable and synchronised), MS Word (through the Outline view), or the table of contents one finds in many books. Actually I support the idea that stylesheets are well used to provide a visual positioning that is only relevant to a visual layout. But I note there is a problem arising here in the "tab order" - again a problem of the limited options for navigation. Contrast WebTV where there is 2-dimensional navigation available. Cheers Chaals On Mon, 9 Apr 2001, Charles F. Munat wrote: "Skip navigation links" does not mean that the navigation links are not present on the page. It is simply a link allowing one to shift the focus directly to the start of the text without having to go through the navigation links (usually above the text) first. As such, a "skip navigation links" is of no use to a user accessing the page visually. But for someone using a screen reader or self-voicing browser (which reads the page in linear fashion), the "Skip Navigation Links" or "Skip to Text" link saves them the hassle of having to listen to the same navigation links again and again with each page they visit. If the navigation links are not above (code-wise) the text in the document, then a skip link is not necessary. If a user *has* used the skip link to skip to the text, then he/she can always back up to the navigation links. Make sense? Charles F. Munat Seattle, Washington -----Original Message----- From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On Behalf Of fgaine@frontend.ie Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 2:43 PM To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org Subject: RE: Skipping navigation tactics Isn't accessibility about equality of access and choice ? Forgive me if I have misunderstood but if style sheets are used so that navigation links are not seen or heard then this defeats this objective of being able to choose. Remember, 'skip navigation' links are a priority three checkpoint and is more of a convenience issue rather than a barrier to access. Using style sheets in this way could plausibly deny access to navigational information if it is the case that they're not shown elsewhere on a page. Am I wrong ? If so, could someone please tell me how style sheets can be used effectively here ? Regards Frank -- Charles McCathieNevile http://www.w3.org/People/Charles phone: +61 409 134 136 W3C Web Accessibility Initiative http://www.w3.org/WAI fax: +1 617 258 5999 Location: 21 Mitchell street FOOTSCRAY Vic 3011, Australia (or W3C INRIA, Route des Lucioles, BP 93, 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France)
Received on Tuesday, 10 April 2001 07:21:35 UTC