Hypertext Links

16 September 2005 · 0 comments

WebAIM has a clear, detailed and easy to read tutorial about hypertext links. Nothing terribly new there, though some of the explanations of why to use certain practices were useful. It did however clarify one thing I’ve long been fuzzy on: does putting links in a list satisfy the requirement to separate adjacent links with [...]

WebAIM has a clear, detailed and easy to read tutorial about hypertext links. Nothing terribly new there, though some of the explanations of why to use certain practices were useful. It did however clarify one thing I’ve long been fuzzy on: does putting links in a list satisfy the requirement to separate adjacent links with more than white space? Yes, is the answer:

Hypertext Links

When using a screen reader, it can sometimes be a little difficult to tell when link text ends and when another begins. JAWS says “link” before each link, which minimizes this problem, but it can be a little more difficult with Home Page Reader, which uses a female-sounding voice for all of the links. It is a good thing that the voice changes from a male-sounding voice to a female-sounding voice, but if there are five links in a row, the voice will not change at all in between links, which can lead to some confusion.

One solution is to provide a non-link character between each link. The vertical bar ( | ) is used quite often for this purpose. Another solution is to put the links in an ordered or numbered list. Screen readers tend to pause between list items, helping the user audibly distinguish between separate links.

[Via WebAIM.]

Even if you think you know your links, this article is definitely worth a read.

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