Re: Buttons vs links

Hi Angela,
You’ll also want to consider the user experience and what the element is communicating.
If it is communicating a button (e.g., looks like a button, has associated instructions about being a button), then it should be coded as a button, or some users could be confused or have a challenging experience with the application.

Links and buttons often look the same, but they do not sound the same and are not activated in the same way. It is really important to communicate the same interaction in all modalities.

If you haven’t already read it, you might enjoy this post by Marcy Sutton
https://marcysutton.com/links-vs-buttons-in-modern-web-applications <https://marcysutton.com/links-vs-buttons-in-modern-web-applications>.

She makes a nice comparison without going into too much technical detail.

And, I would recommend reading relevant sections of the ARIA Authoring Practices specification.

When you compare the interaction patterns for elements with role=“button" versus role=“link". There are some very stark differences, one of which is that there is more than one kind of button.
https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/#button <https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/#button>
https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/#link <https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-practices-1.1/#link>

Taliesin
talilief@gmail.com

~.~.~
Also reachable at:
Taliesin.Smith@colorado.edu
Inclusive Design Researcher
PhET Interactive Simulations
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/accessibility
Physics Department
University of Colorado, Boulder




> On May 7, 2020, at 5:18 PM, Savage, Angela (ITS) <Angela.Savage@its.ny.gov> wrote:
> 
> Thank you for the responses. These have been helpful!
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jan Hellbusch <jan@hellbusch.de> 
> Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2020 12:28 PM
> To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> Subject: RE: Buttons vs links
> 
> ATTENTION: This email came from an external source. Do not open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails.
> 
> Hi,
> 
> according to HTML spec, links are for resources and buttons are for actions.
> There are exceptions:
> 
> * in general, use links for going to a new page or downloading a document.
> * links can also be used within a web page (skip navigation links etc.).
> 
> * buttons are used for sending forms (most often to a script).
> * Otherwise they should be used for performing actions on the web page (e.g.
> widgets).
> 
> * Actions can, of course, mean calling a new resource in a process. It will not always be clear, whether a button or a link is more appropriate.
> 
> Jan
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Savage, Angela (ITS) <Angela.Savage@its.ny.gov>
>> Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2020 6:02 PM
>> To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
>> Subject: Buttons vs links
>> 
>> I was wondering what is the proper usage for a button and a link when
> building
>> an accessible application or website?
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I'm reading multiple articles on this topic and I read an article from 
>> the
> Nielsen
>> Norman Group on command links and they state that buttons should not 
>> be used for navigation and that users should click a plain link to 
>> move to
> another
>> page of information. Multiple articles I have read  on using buttons 
>> and
> links
>> when creating an accessible application or page mention this too.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Article: Command Links 
>> <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/command-links/>
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Thank you in advance,
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Angela Savage
>> 
>> Accessibility Auditor
> 
> 
> 
>