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Accessibility and 'skip to' links

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Subject:  Accessibility and 'skip to' links
Author:   RosieSherry:   view profile | all posts by this author | add to favourites
Date:   15:53:58 26 April 2006
 
I'm hoping to spark up a bit of debate...

The nature of being a tester is to continuously ask questions. And this is what I do.

My most recent bother is regarding 'skip to' links and the inconsistencies across the web.

What are the current guidelines for using 'skip to' links?

There are variations at the moment:
Skip to navigation
Skip navigation
Skip content
Skip to content
etc

There are also variations on the order of content. Some displaying content first, others choosing to go with navigation first. Pages with navigation first, would have a link to content, and vice versa.

I understand all this, no problem. It has logic behind it, but how effective is it all? Logic does not always work in practice.

What I struggle with at the moment is that each website varies on order of content and types of links used. Surely this must get confusing to the users, and I'm talking about all users not just disabled people.

I honestly believe that most users expect navigation to be first, followed by content. Though am sure others prefer to see content first. This article on skip to links backs up my beliefs.

So, what bugs me is the fact that I use the tab key at times to navigate around pages, (maybe it's out of habit from doing so much accessibility testing) and often when I navigate a site I just get lost and confused.

The intention of web accessibility is to make the internet more accessible to all. I do believe in using skip to links, but not in a way that will make a site less usable.

Rosie Sherry
QA Consultant
www.drivenqa.com
http://rosiesherry.blogspot.com/
 
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  • Accessibility and 'skip to' links, RosieSherry, 26 Apr 15:53
    I'm hoping to spark up a bit of debate... The nature of being a tester is to continuously ask questions. And this is what I do. My most recent bother is regarding 'skip to' l ...
    • RE: Accessibility and 'skip to' links, Ashley , 26 Apr 17:31
      I don't think I've ever seen a 'Skip' option that I *haven't* clicked on. Almost aways I think they are an admission that "we'd like to make you see XYZ first, but here's a get-out ...
    • Accessibility and 'skip to' links, AndrewAllfrey, 27 Apr 12:48
      The only occasions I'd recommend using a Skip to .... link is for skipping navigation after the initial home page to avoid the navigation being repeated on all subsequent pages, wh ...
    • Accessibility and 'skip to' links, PaulWalsh, 28 Apr 12:40
      In response to Rosie, Andrew and Ashley. There is a valid reason to use a ‘skip to xx’ option but it’s not relevant to every user all of the time. This isn’t an accessibility r ...
      • Accessibility and 'skip to' links, studio24, 3 May 15:02
        I agree with Andrew and Paul. Skip navigation is very useful for some users. There are many techniques to hide such links from visual web browsers so it's really just simple good p ...
        • Accessibility and 'skip to' links, RosieSherry, 3 May 17:35
          I would definitely agree that skip to links are an accessibility issue, and that it should be reminded that it's not only screen reader users who benefit from skip to links.  Any u ...
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