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#Accessibility. In the latest webplatform.news (best web dev newsletter IMO), @simevidas suggests to “consider adding a ‘skip to main content link’”. I suggest to be mindful. (Thread.)On twitter.com
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I’ll spare you the obvious reason, to keep your HTML as small as possible: 1) Ground rules for HTML: meiert.com/en/blog/rules-for-html/ 2) Get rid of what you can, including optional markup: meiert.com/en/blog/optional-html/ I can’t help this: We’ve never exhausted #HTML’s potential.Permalink On twitter.com
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You find the interesting parts about “skip” links not in #WCAG 2.1 Tech G1, w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/general/G1, but in “Bypassing Blocks,” w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/bypass-blocks. (The even more interesting pieces are buried in old lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-gl/ conversations. I couldn’t find them so swiftly.)Permalink On twitter.com
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Here’s the teaser: 1) “Small repeated sections such as individual words, phrases or single links are not considered blocks for the purposes of this provision.” That’s important because not everything that stands between user focus and content needs to be skippable.Permalink On twitter.com
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Here’s the key: 2) “It is not the intent […] to require authors to provide methods that are redundant to functionality provided by the user agent.” Best case: If main content starts with a heading, and as major screen readers allow to jump there, this 👉 already allows access.Permalink On twitter.com
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Now, guidelines still suggest “skip” links, b/c they won’t hurt #a11y. But not hurting is not the same as benefiting, and web dev is not an island: If you optimize for a11y, great—but you’re also un-optimizing your code (usually #perf and #maintenance). Weigh your decisions.Permalink On twitter.com