"If a user wants to magnify the screen there are alternative methods for making link text bigger"
People don't spend hundreds of pounds on magnifiers to do something that any browser can do. Most sites would break horribly if you increased the text to even 4x its normal size, and many people run much higher magnification levels than that. Magnifiers also do much more, such as colour substitution or inversion, and of course they magnify everything including the browser chrome, not just the text. At 800x600 resolution and 4x magnification, even a relatively small tooltip can obscure nearly a quarter of the screen, and it is not always obvious how to get rid of it if the active area of the link is larger than the text. And of course there is no way to turn off the tooltips. So on balance I believe that a few people benefit from 'title' attributes, a few people are negatively impacted and they are irrelevant to vast majority of people. I therefore recommend only using them when really necessary, in which case you should really be thinking more about why your link text isn't adequate. Steve -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of James Jeffery Sent: 18 November 2007 19:02 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [WSG] AccessResearch // Page Check [quote cite="http://juicystudio.com/article/using-title-attribute.php";] Values of the title attribute may be rendered by user agents in a variety of ways. For instance, visual browsers frequently display the title as a "tool tip" (a short message that appears when the pointing device pauses over an object). Audio user agents may speak the title information in a similar context. For example, setting the attribute on a link allows user agents (visual and non-visual) to tell users about the nature of the linked resource. [quote cite="http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/WD-WCAG20-TECHS/H33.html";] Assistive technologies provide different levels of support for speaking the title attribute for an anchor element. JAWS 7.0 will speak either the link text or the title attribute for a link depending upon a JAWS setting. This setting can be changed temporarily or permanently within JAWS. However, it is awkward to read both the link text and the title attribute for a link. WindowEyes 5.5 has a hot key, ins-E, that will speak additional information, including the title attribute, for the item with focus. Home Page Reader 3.04 will speak the the URL of the current page and title attribute of any element with focus when the control-shift-F1 keys are pressed simultaneously. Some do, some don't. I would rather provide to those that do and give the disabled a greater benifit for those that make use of the title attribute. It would be wrong *not* to use the title attribute when you could be helping others make more sense of your page. Its like saying "dont think about users with older browsers, they are the minority". Every user counts. If a user wants to magnify the screen there are alternative methods for making link text bigger, there is no alternative method for a user to make sense of link text. James On Nov 18, 2007 5:44 PM, Steve Green <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > People with assistive technologies rarely benefit from 'title' attributes. > They are not displayed by text browsers, they are not accessible using > keyboard navigation (or devices that emulate keyboards) and they are > not read by screen readers with default settings. They are only > accessible to someone who uses a mouse and can hover it over the link, > in which case it is not particularly difficult to go the extra step and click it. > > On top of that, excessive use of tooltips of any kind causes an > obstacle for screen magnifier users, as they obscure a large > proportion of the page even at relatively low magnification levels. > > So I have users very much in mind when I recommend that 'title' > attributes should be used as little as possible. > > Steve > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of James Jeffery > Sent: 18 November 2007 10:32 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WSG] AccessResearch // Page Check > > On Nov 18, 2007 1:19 AM, Patrick H. Lauke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > James Jeffery wrote: > > >> Not every anchor needs extra advisory information, so I don't see > > >> an issue here. > > > > > > The title attribute is optional, but a title can help to clearly > > > and accurately describe a link and for a website thats based > > > around accessibility he should be using the title attribute where needed. > > > > But his links don't need it in this case. > > > > So your saying that before a user reads the content of the home page > they are expected to know whats on the "My Project" page? Keep in mind > users who use assistive devices to browse the web might find it very > difficult to navigate to other pages. You could sum up the page > contents in the title so it saves the user clicking the link. > > Adding clarity when possibly needed is a good thing. > > </overAndOut> > > > ******************************************************************* > List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm > Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm > Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ******************************************************************* > > > > ******************************************************************* > List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm > Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm > Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ******************************************************************* > > ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
