RE: link in new window debate (was "Special message to website cr eators")

The opening in a new window debate keeps happening because people haven't
made up their minds about the issue (this happens where I work at least).
The concern is not just about accessibility but also about usability.   The
problem, I think, is that some people think that setting up outside links to
open in a new window makes their site more usable.  

In my opinion, opening links onto new windows poses usability problems with
the non-techie crowd. The folks who don't notice that a new window opened
and that they can't hit the back button.  If this confuses non-techie people
who are sighted, I assume it would confuse non-techie individuals who are
not sighted.   

So even though the answer to the open-in-new-window debate is simple for
some of us, others are tempted to always add that target attribute to their
links.   

  Juan C. Ulloa
* Website Specialist 
* Web Services * Bellevue Community College
* julloa@bcc.ctc.edu
* (425) 564-2487
* Mailstop: D261

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Phill Jenkins [mailto:pjenkins@us.ibm.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2003 8:21 AM
> To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> Subject: re: "Special message to website creators"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why do we keep having these debates about opening new windows?  We don't
> seem to be having debates about dialog boxes, or error message dialogs, or
> the various other GUI windows that have been used for over a decade by
> screen reader users.   What problem are we trying to solve, the browser
> problem, an authoring problem, or what?
> 
> For example, if the author codes the link to open in a new window, and the
> browser+AT doesn't inform the user (if she wants to be informed) then its
> a
> browser+AT problem.  The default behavior of opening windows in Windows XP
> (and a lot of other GUIs) is good example of user configurability.  It's
> not the authors/developers job to code around responsibilities of the
> browser+AT.
> 
> Regards,
> Phill

Received on Tuesday, 18 November 2003 11:46:59 UTC