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The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

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Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#111

Post by CGamesPlay »

lhorie wrote: post #104
jahewson wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree for cases where the text is supposed to behave like a hyperlink - it should be one. But in cases where its behaviour is that of a button (even a button which has the appearance of blue text - think iOS) then onclick is a good choice. Especially for contexts where “open in new tab” makes no sense. I can’t see any valid reason for using a void link - worst of both worlds?

I recall reading a story about someone who had implemented some sort of table using links for actions. At some point the app data mysteriously got wiped out. Turned out a user had Alexa toolbar installed and it crawled the "delete" links on each row (as well as all the pagination links)...

The web server had a deficiency where it modified data on HTTP GET requests. We could probably agree that navigation should be links and other actions should be buttons. Visual appearance of such should probably be left alone, but is technically a decision that can be made independently.

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#112

Post by briandear »

rpeden wrote: post #60
rayiner wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that's why that happens. Why on earth would you break one of the most foundational aspects of HTML that way?

Breaking it is completely unnecessary too, even with single page apps. It's not all that hard to build a React or Angular apps that use proper links along with the browser history API. Designed properly, the apps should be able to load their state and render correctly even when deep-linked to somewhere other than the app's top level. This isn't a new concern - I remember paying attention to this back in the old days…

Ember does this out of the box.

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#113

Post by [deleted] »

aidenn0 wrote: post #43

I'm still looking for "just use links". So many frontends I see use fancy onclicks to emulate links (including updating window.location). However they are either not links or are void links. This breaks all sorts of useful things (copy link location, open in new tab &c.).

[deleted]

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#114

Post by SilasX »

aidenn0 wrote: post #43

I'm still looking for "just use links". So many frontends I see use fancy onclicks to emulate links (including updating window.location). However they are either not links or are void links. This breaks all sorts of useful things (copy link location, open in new tab &c.).

And extensions like Vimium/pentadactyl/VimFX that let you do all your browsing from the keyboard without a mouse, and which therefore have to be able to detect and send a signal to follow links.

And probably accessibility tools for the blind.

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#115

Post by vinceguidry »

Washuu wrote: post #110
vinceguidry wrote: post #37

Reading this article made me realize what it is that's broken about the concept of semantic markup and why websites even today are div soup. It's the same reason why divs won in the first place. You can't dictate the shape of a document to people and it be anything other than a kludge. Take the site I work on, Great Big Story[1]. We have sections and headers, but our content isn't defined by text, it's defined by gra…

The site you work on is blank if Javascript is turned off. I do not see anything in particular on the home page that should require Javascript to render.

Me neither but I didn't decide on the site architecture. If I did, it would work.

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#116

Post by davchana »

jhardy54 wrote: post #22
deadalus wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://perfectmotherfuckingwebsite.com/

https://bestmotherfucking.website/

On Chrome Android, all I get is the source code on the page itself; unparsed. Is there the server serving html file as text?

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#117

Post by zlynx »

bobwaycott wrote: post #67
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NoScript

Yeah, NoScript isn't news to me. I'm talking about what I wish a browser would do--out of the box, by default, zero config and third-party add-ons required.

Web developers start writing browser sniffers and ad-block complainer scripts so that your default browser becomes useless.

If they can't force you to watch their ads they just want you to go away.

I mean, just look at the backlash against AMP.

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#118

Post by hinkley »

edflsafoiewq wrote: post #105
aidenn0 wrote: post #43

I'm still looking for "just use links". So many frontends I see use fancy onclicks to emulate links (including updating window.location). However they are either not links or are void links. This breaks all sorts of useful things (copy link location, open in new tab &c.).

I especially love when these not-links can't be clicked (for God knows what reason) using a stylus, rendering them unusable unless I hook up a mouse.

16 pixel click targets on mobile...

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#119

Post by CGamesPlay »

jandrese wrote: post #51
vinceguidry wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the file input button, unless things have changed in the last year since I had to build one. Other buttons, sure, but not on file inputs.

Heaven forbid your buttons look like buttons.

Agree! The silly file input button looks like a button crammed next to an input field. What a silly design choice imposed on us by the browser makers!

Re: The easiest way to keep your web apps accessible: Just use text

#120

Post by craftyguy »

jmulho wrote: post #93
craftyguy wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an easy fix for folks like yourself: most (all?) modern browsers support setting a minimum font size. Jack that up way into the double digits, and stop justifying ridiculously large font sizes for everyone.

How about you set maximum font size in your browser? That would be a much better plan. See what I mean?

> That would be a much better plan. See what I mean?

No, because there are cases where having large fonts makes sense (e.g. for article titles, etc) while preserving the ability to display smaller fonts than that (e.g. for article content).

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