HTML and XHTML with Scripting.
This failure relates to:
This failure occurs when JavaScript event handlers are attached to elements to ''emulate links''. A control or link created in this manner cannot be tabbed to from the keyboard and does not gain keyboard focus like other controls and/or links. If scripting events are used to emulate links, user agents including assistive technology may not be able to identify the links in the content as links. They may not be recognized as interactive controls by assistive technology, or they may be recognized as interactive controls but still not recognized as links. Such elements do not appear in the links list generated by user agents or assistive technology.
The <a href> and <area>
elements are intended to mark up links.
Attaching event handlers to elements that are not normally interactive, such
as span and div, can be quite disorienting to
users. Even if care is taken to provide keyboard access to such elements,
users may have a difficult time discovering that there are interactive
controls in the content or understanding what type of behavior to expect
from them. For example, users may not know which keystrokes are supported by
the script to activate the element. Additionally, these elements do not
generate the same operating system events as interactive elements, so
assistive technology may not be notified when the user activates them.
Scripted event handling is added to a span element so
that it functions as a link when clicked with a mouse. Assistive
technology does not recognize this element as a link.
Example Code:
<span onclick="this.location.href='newpage.html'">
Fake link
</span>
Scripted event handling is added to an img element so
that it functions as a link when clicked with a mouse. Assistive
technology does not recognize this element as a link.
Example Code:
<img src="go.gif"
alt="go to the new page"
onclick="this.location.href='newpage.html'">
Scripted event handling is added to an img element so
that it functions as a link. In this example, the link functionality
can be invoked with the mouse or via the Enter key if the user agent
includes the element in the tab chain. Nevertheless, the element
will not be recognized as a link.
Example Code:
function doNav(url)
{
window.location.href = url;
}
function doKeyPress(url)
{
//if the enter key was pressed
if (window.event.type == "keypress" &&
window.event.keyCode == 13)
{
doNav(url);
}
}
The markup for the image is:
Example Code:
<p>
<img src="bargain.jpg"
tabindex="0"
alt="View Bargains"
onclick="doNav('viewbargains.html');"
onkeypress="doKeyPress('viewbargains.html');">
</p>
This example uses script to make a div element behave
like a link. Although the author has provided complete keyboard
access and separated the event handlers from the markup to enable
repurposing of the content, the div element will not be
recognized as a link by assistive technology.
Example Code:
window.onload = init;
function init()
{
var objAnchor = document.getElementById('linklike');
objAnchor.onclick = function(event){return changeLocation(event,
'surveyresults.html');};
objAnchor.onkeypress = function(event){return changeLocation(event,
'surveyresults.html');};
}
function changeLocation(objEvent, strLocation)
{
var iKeyCode;
if (objEvent && objEvent.type == 'keypress')
{
if (objEvent.keyCode)
iKeyCode = objEvent.keyCode;
else if (objEvent.which)
iKeyCode = objEvent.which;
if (iKeyCode != 13 && iKeyCode != 32)
return true;
}
window.location.href = strLocation;
}
The markup for the div element is:
Example Code:
<div id="linklike">
View the results of the survey.
</div>
Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.
Check whether there are JavaScript event handlers on an element that emulates a link.
Check whether the programmatically determined role of the element is link.
If check #1 is true and check #2 is false, then this failure condition applies and content fails the Success Criterion.
Techniques are informative—that means they are not required. The basis for determining conformance to WCAG 2.0 is the success criteria from the WCAG 2.0 standard—not the techniques. For important information about techniques, please see the Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria section of Understanding WCAG 2.0.