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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Opening a new tab *is* considered a change of context. WCAG specifically defines a change of viewport as a change of context. See
<a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/change-on-request.html#dfn-changes-of-context">
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/change-on-request.html#dfn-changes-of-context</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-fareast-language:EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Steve Green<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Managing Director<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Test Partners Ltd<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> athen-list <athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Katherine Deibel<br>
<b>Sent:</b> 22 April 2022 13:55<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list@u.washington.edu><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Website accessibility<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">> There’s plenty of evidence that it does not confusion in some users, notably those with cognitive issues.<br>
<br>
Argh… not enough caffeine yet. That should be:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"> There’s plenty of evidence that it does create confusion in some users, notably those with cognitive issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Katherine “Kate” Deibel, PhD<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Library Accessibility Specialist<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Twitter:
<a href="https://twitter.com/metageeky"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://twitter.com/metageeky</span></a><br>
GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/metageeky"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://github.com/metageeky</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu">athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Katherine Deibel<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, April 22, 2022 8:44 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Website accessibility<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">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.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Once again, a good example of how WCAG is the barest minimum of accessibility.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Katherine “Kate” Deibel, PhD<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Library Accessibility Specialist<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif">Twitter:
<a href="https://twitter.com/metageeky"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://twitter.com/metageeky</span></a><br>
GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/metageeky"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://github.com/metageeky</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu">athen-list-bounces@mailman12.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>glen walker<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, April 22, 2022 12:58 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Website accessibility<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">> Strictly WCAG, you need to provide an indication of this unexpected behavior as it creates a change of context for the user.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">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. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We had a discussion about this recently on the WebAIM forum -
<a href="https://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread?thread=10383#post0">https://webaim.org/discussion/mail_thread?thread=10383#post0</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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