Posted by kchayka on 08/18/05 01:08

Jukka K. Korpela wrote:

> kchayka <usenet@c-net.us> wrote:
>
>> IMO, you have already dealt with "the adjacent links problem" by using
>> list markup. The list marker can provide the non-link, printable
>> character, even if you hide it via CSS.
>
> But it is common to use speech browsers that work "upon" graphic browsers,
> reading aloud what appears on screen

This is true, but I'm not convinced hiding the marker is that big of a
problem. An experienced screen reader user sets the reading speed up
faster than you or I could ever follow. They may also navigate just
through links or other structural elements. In either case, they
probably wouldn't even notice whether the marker was on screen or not. A
less experienced user might notice something, depending on their
particular reader and how they have it configured.

> But there's more. Think about seeing, on a graphic browser, links like
>
> foo bar zap zip zap zup ump
>
> Are there seven links, or less? Maybe "foo bar" is one link? If links are
> underlined, breaks in underlining may give a hint. Too subtle?

I don't think you should rely on underlining, since that is a preference
setting in most browsers, though I've never known of anyone turning it
off by default. Regardless, if the designer opts for a horizontal list,
but doesn't provide sufficient separation on screen via spacing,
borders, colors or some other means, it's degraded usability for sure,
but not likely an accessibility issue.

BTW, 1em between links as the only separator is indeed too subtle for my
tastes, even if each link is a single word.

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