RE: Buttons styled as links and links styled as buttons

Hi all,

I agree and disagree with my very esteemed colleague Patrick here:

AGREE: Yes, we spend too much time on this issue.
DISAGREE: because we never just bite the bullet and make a call as to what's the best practice way to do this. 

Style does matter, in this instance especially to persons using screen mags and heavy keyboard/voice input.  When you make something look like something it isn't, people get confused on functionality ad purpose.  Or, put another way, slapping a Subaru logo on my daughter's sedan doesn't suddenly give it 4-wheel drive.  
 
Regards,

Mark D. Urban
CDC/ATSDR Accessibility Program Manager
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)
Office of the Chief Operating Officer (OCOO)
Murban@CDC.gov | 919-541-0562 office

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick H. Lauke <redux@splintered.co.uk> 
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2021 7:36 PM
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: Buttons styled as links and links styled as buttons

My personal take on this is that it's a "talismanic" issue that is really a non-issue, but for some reason seems to constantly suck up all the energy and effort, as if it was the most pressing aspect to solve in the accessibility discourse.

I'm a proponent of the role ideally matching the function (and if not, failing der 4.1.2), but leaving 1.3.1 well out of this as there really is far too much of a gray area between how a link or button "traditionally" looks and what the reality is (with call-to-action links, download links, graphical links, etc)

and voice users can generally easily activate a control by saying "click [visible text]" without even needing to specify link or button...

P

Received on Friday, 19 November 2021 14:31:46 UTC