Hi Carolyn
I'm with Jakob on this one - as far as opening new windows is concerned anyway. I used to think it was unnecessary, but while user testing something else, noticed that when PDFs opened without a new browser window, many users would then close the document and be annoyed that the browser had closed. Do make sure that you indicate the file size and type, so that they're not surprised by the file type and have some warning of how long it's likely to take. I don't agree with the idea of forcing them to save the file to disk before opening it - that's not based on user testing, just the fact that it would really p* me off! Elizabeth Spiegel Web editing 0409 986 158 GPO Box 729, Hobart TAS 7001 www.spiegelweb.com.au From: li...@webstandardsgroup.org [mailto:li...@webstandardsgroup.org] On Behalf Of Carolyn Diaz Sent: Friday, 6 February 2009 8:31 AM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: [WSG] PDFs and other non-html files opening in a new browser window My Web team and I are discussing whether or not we should open links to PDFs and other non-html pages in a new window. Someone cited Jakob Nielsen's argument at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/open_new_windows.html as the reason we should open in a new window. (We all work on government Web sites and they are about to release a new set of linking standards.) I know this is an old school type question, but we are very divided about this. The people on our usability team are with Nielsen, but others (like me) are not so sure. Isn't accessibility to new windows a problem as it changes the focus? What do you think? Carolyn ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: memberh...@webstandardsgroup.org *******************************************************************
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