[Athen] Website accessibility

[Steve Green]

Opening a new tab *is* considered a change of context. WCAG specifically defines a change of viewport as a change of context. See https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/change-on-request.html#dfn-changes-of-context

However, for links, it’s an expected change of context. Everyone knows that it can happen, even if they don’t expect it to in a particular circumstance.

I am certainly not advocating opening links in new tabs – I have seen it cause plenty of problems during user testing with screen reader users, screen magnifier users and dyslexic people. But it’s only an annoyance, not a complete barrier.

And WCAG 2.1 AA is hardly the barest minimum of accessibility – a website that is fully conformant will be accessible to the vast majority of disabled people.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd


From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Katherine Deibel
Sent: 22 April 2022 13:55
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Website accessibility


> There’s plenty of evidence that it does not confusion in some users, notably those with cognitive issues.


Argh… not enough caffeine yet. That should be:
          There’s plenty of evidence that it does create confusion in some users, notably those with cognitive issues.

Katherine “Kate” Deibel, PhD
Library Accessibility Specialist
Twitter: https://twitter.com/metageeky
GitHub: https://github.com/metageeky

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of Katherine Deibel
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2022 8:44 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Website accessibility

I’ll stand corrected but it greatly bothers me that opening a new tab is not considered a change of context. There’s plenty of evidence that it does not confusion in some users, notably those with cognitive issues. Plus, it creates a whole new browsing context in terms of browser history.

Once again, a good example of how WCAG is the barest minimum of accessibility.

Katherine “Kate” Deibel, PhD
Library Accessibility Specialist
Twitter: https://twitter.com/metageeky
GitHub: https://github.com/metageeky

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu>> On Behalf Of glen walker
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2022 12:58 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list at u.washington.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Website accessibility


> Strictly WCAG, you need to provide an indication of this unexpected behavior as it creates a change of context for the user.


That's a matter of interpretation.  If you're alluding to WCAG 3.2.2 On Input, clicking a link and going to a new page (whether in the existing tab or a new tab/window) is *expected* behavior because that's what a link does.  You don't have to tell the user you're going to do that.

We had a discussion about this recently on the WebAIM forum - https://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread?thread=10383#post0


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