Generally, I agree that the webpage designer should not open a link in a new window. I used to use the concept of opening external links in a new window. I think this is done most of the time to keep users on your site. I have thought it was a good idea in a few cases for a group of links and used the target= attribute and had a message before the group that it would be opened in a new window. If the target= attribute is deprecated, what is the new mechanism? Have they removed this capability altogether?
As a user, I use Tab browsing all of the time! Here are the hotkeys available for IE. I am fairly sure they all work the same for Firefox.
Enter - open link Shift + Enter - open link in new window Control + Enter - open link in new tab in background Control + Shift + Enter - open link in new tab in foreground Control + Shift + q - open context menu near address bar of tabs Control + F4 - close tabWhen reviewing News Articles in an RSS feed, I will use Control + Enter to open the link in a new tab in the background. Then I can continue to review all of the articles before reading each article of interest. When done reading the article or any tab, press Control + F4 to close the tab. I typically use Control + Shift when opening a link on the same topic, where I need to return to that location on the current page. I use Shift + Enter to open links relating to a different topic, so it remains separate.
*Don Marang*Vinux Software Development Coordinator - vinuxproject.org <http://www.vinuxproject.org/> There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of any real substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am working on things that matter.
-- Dean Kamen On 7/20/2011 8:48 AM, Jamal Mazrui wrote:
In general, I prefer opening a page in a new tab unless I am sure that I do not want to return to the current page. In that way, I can press Control+F4 in IE (or Control+W in Firefox) to close the new page and return to the previous one, without that page having to reload -- dpending on the HTML and cache settings, that often happens, which takes time and may lose one's position on the page. With IE, press Shift+Enter to open the current page link in a new tab. With Firefox, use Control+Enter.Jamal On 7/20/2011 8:26 AM, Homme, James wrote:Hi Laura, Yes. I want to know before I hit Enter if it's going to open a new page in the same tab, or a new page in another tab, because I want to know whether I'm goint to press Alt Left Arrow to get back, or Control F4 to close the tab to get back. Usually, though, I try Alt Left, and if that doesn’t' work, Control F4. Jim *From:*programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On Behalf Of *qubit *Sent:* Wednesday, July 20, 2011 8:08 AM *To:* programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx *Subject:* Re: Maybe I'm Not Such An Old Dog do you mean you want to know before you follow that link? Jaws announces a new tab or a new browser window after you click on the link. Is that good enough? --le ----- Original Message ----- *From:*Homme, James <mailto:james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx> *To:*Homme, James <mailto:james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx> *Sent:*Wednesday, July 20, 2011 6:50 AM *Subject:*Maybe I'm Not Such An Old Dog Hi, I know that popping open new browser windows is against accessibility guidelines, but I'm beginning to re-think my aversion to doing that, partly because I like the new way browsers open windows. I like tabs. I also like that when I return to the previous tab, I'm exactly where I left off reading. Recently, with more dynamic pages, it has become more and more unreliable to use the back button to get back to where I was. I'm even experimenting with opening links in a separate browser window on purpose. I'd still like to know, though, if a link is about to open in a separate window, even if it's for informational reasons. JAWS does a good job, though, of telling me that a new tab has opened. Jim Homme, Usability Services, Phone: 412-544-1810. This e-mail and any attachments to it are confidential and are intended solely for use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender immediately and then delete it. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not keep, use, disclose, copy or distribute this e-mail without the author's prior permission. The views expressed in this e-mail message do not necessarily represent the views of Highmark Inc., its subsidiaries, or affiliates.__________View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
