ACTION-82: Suggest some proposed replacement text ref: issue 37 to the group by Monday.

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Aaron [mailto:gaaron@afilias.info]
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 10:45 PM
To: Mobile Web Best Practices Working Group WG
Cc: Andrea Trasatti
Subject: ISSUE-37: proposed edit to 5.3.7


Section 5.3.7 of Mobile Web Best Practices draft 1.0 is overbroad, and I suggest a revision (action item 82). The BP currently reads:
\"Clearly identify the target of each link in a way that allows users to decide in advance whether to follow it, including the \'cost\' of following it. Clearly identify links to content that the device may not be able to interpret.\"

NOTES:

This BP was inspired in part by WCAG 13.1, which simply states: \"Clearly identify the target of each link.\"

Weaknesses of the current language are:
1. Strictly interpreted, 5.3.7 would ask content providers to note the cost or size of each and every hyperlink/target, which would be very distracting.
2. One way of identifying the \"cost\" of following a link is to provide the actual size of the target. On the desktop Web, it\'s long been a good practice to note target size in parentheses -- but only when offering abnormally large (costly) files for download. (\"PDF file: 4.5 MB\"). Cost should be identified when it\'s out of the ordinary.
3. The BP should not impose undue burdens on content creators who want to hyperlink. Hyperlinking is the feature at the very heart of the Web.
4. Mobile content providers cannot be expected to continually monitor the sizes of every resource they link to. Those are often controlled by other content creators/providers, and the size of those targets often changes.
5. There is not a perfect way to identify the target of every link \"in a way that allows users to decide in advance whether to follow it.\" (Sometimes, you cannot decide whether you like the destination until you visit it.)

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PROPOSED NEW LANGUAGE FOR ALL OF 5.3.7:

\"Clearly identify the target of each link. Use clear, concise, descriptive link text to help users decide whether to follow a link. Identify the \"costs\" of following a link if the target is notably large or costly.\"

5.3.7.1 What it means
Users of mobile devices may suffer undue delay and cost as a result of following links. The use of concise, descriptive link text can help users avoid content irrelevant to their interests. For example, write \"Info about Philadelphia\" instead of \"click here\".

Implementations are unlikely to be able to specify the cost in monetary terms of a particular user following a particular link. However, it is helpful to give an idea of the size of the target [in bytes, or in an abstract way, e.g. \'large file\'] if the target is notably large or beyond average.

Links to content that is in a different format to the format of the page the link is on (i.e. content that can only be interpreted by other applications, file, downloads, etc.) should be signposted. The goal is to not lead a user to download content that their device may not be able to use.

5.3.7.2 How to do it
See [Techniques] for a discussion of Link Target Identification. Providing \'teasers\' may help in some cases.

5.3.7.3 References and Sources
This relates to WCAG 11.3 and 13.1

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Greg Aaron
Senior Manager, e-Commerce
Afilias
215.706.5700 x104