Re: Using Heading to Replace Skip Links

“Headings can only replace skip links for screen reader users - they don't
benefit sighted keyboard-only users (e.g. Prof Hawking) and low vision
users using screen magnifiers, for whom skip links work much better
(because they don't have shortcut keys to navigate headings).”



>>Coding to H69 can inconvenience sighted keyboard and even voice
recognition users. I know a voice recognition user who depends on the skip
link to refresh the dragon database. Low vision AT users generally have a
provision to navigate via headings, unless someone is using an ‘ease of
access’ type magnifier.

The only point I want to make here is that using H42 (Using H1-H6 to
identify headings) [SC 1.3.1: Info and Relationships], screen reader users
can navigate and/or bypass blocks. When compared with H69 (Providing
heading elements at the beginning of each section) [SC 2.4.1: Bypass
Blocks], something tells me that H69 builds on top of H42.

So is it necessary that H69 be a sufficient technique for SC 2.4.1 (bypass
blocks) when H42 seems to address this in a different way?

Some comments made by users in the past follow. Apologies if I did not
summarize the pointers correctly:

-          Where it was reported that H42 (under SC 1.3.1) and H69 should
be merged into one (refer
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2011Apr/0010.html)


-          Where a suggestion was made to include an ‘and’ between part 1
(Creating Links to skip blocks ….) and 2 (Grouping blocks of repeated …)
(refer
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-comments-wcag20/2011Feb/0005.html)

-Devarshi