On 3 Feb 2006, at 4:43 AM, Hopkins Programming wrote:
If there are any of you all who use screen readers or text-only
browsers on a regular basis, what is your opinion?
- Do you expect the navigation or content to come first?
Roger and Russ answer this one in their report. In summary, the current
state of the web is that navigation comes first.
- Which would you prefer to come first?
I use a text browser on a regular basis (it's really fast - no js, css,
or images - and I prefer keyboard navigation to save my wrists). I
prefer content first.
But think about how your page is designed for a moment. If there was no
CSS, and all you had was HTML, how would you put a page together? Would
you really have some navigation at the top, some in the middle and some
at the end, intermixed with your content? There is no other situation
where the UI is interspersed with the content. One of the big web
standards ideals is the separation of content and presentation, and at
the moment I think we are about half way there. Most sites are marked
up to support the visual design provided by the CSS file.
- If the content comes first, should there be a "Skip to Navigation"
link at the top?
Yes, but I suggest if you use a reverse source order layout (content,
then navigtion) that you label the link as "main navigation" or
"navigation menu" or similar and drop any reference to 'skip' or
'jump'.
- Overall, do you believe that the "Content first" principle is a
valid one?
Yes. It has a number of benefits for a diverse range of devices (e.g.
screenreaders, handhelds, search engines) and code maintenance.
Consider this together with my points above.
I'm on record as not entirely accepting Roger, Russ and Lisa's
recommendations on source order, but that said, I'm not vehemently
opposed to them either.
HTH
kind regards
Terrence Wood.
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