Re: What instead of click here?

"Kynn Bartlett"

> And
> are there any users out there who honestly are confused and
> come to a halt when they encounter "click here" and who would
> be easier able to "follow this link"?  I think not.

Of course not, but then follow this link was not suggested as a
replacement for click here, the important thing is that the link text
means something, I would also say that to prevent confusion in my user
agent, you should, if you wish to put "click here" or "follow this link"
or whatever you place it at the end of the link text,  "[To ask Michelle
a question click here]", rather than  "Click here to ask Michelle a
question]"  Both of course are preferable to "To ask Michelle a question
[click here]" where only click here is linked - it is a barrier to my
access to just have click here.  It also of course penalises you in
Google page rankings.

I agree "click here" is irrelevant, but link text that requires context,
is not helpful.  A very large number of user agents provide link list
abilities, I see nothing in HyperText theory which says the link has to
exist in context which your previous post suggested, the hypertext can be
processed in any way, it only has structure not a visual or other
representation.

> You can click with a keyboard.  You can click with nearly any
> access device, and those devices specifically produce the effect
> of a "click".

Not in a proper W3 DOM1 implementation, where they don't, of course the
actual browser developers have more sense than that.

> Okay, so who here has seen the words "click here" and just sat
> there staring at the screen (or listening to the output), helpless,
> unable to figure out what to do?  How long did you sit there
> before leaving the web site

I have done this, I didn't sit there screening, I left, or found an
alternative mechanism to search the site, but it is a barrier to my
accessibility.

Jim.

Received on Tuesday, 9 October 2001 13:08:53 UTC