Smashing Magazine doesn’t know accessibility; article feedback from their (second) accessibility ‘expert’ said to use this code as an example:
<a href="#">Click here <span style="position: absolute; left=-999em;">for more information on bat species</span></a>
You should never use “click here”! This is a total accessibility fail!
I’ve been waiting on publication of a big article for 6 months now, and this is part of the hold up? Ugh, so frustrating!
Clarification: the code example is partially accessible, but definitely not ideal. Here’s why: 1) For a sighted user, the contextual info is hidden. 2) Not good practice to use “click here” whatsoever. 3) Not good practice to hide text when not necessary (adds complexity all around, code bloat, etc.)
The bigger issue is that superfluous comments like this have greatly delayed (and now caused the cancellation of) a big, important article on web accessibility for a very popular online magazine.
Have you considered using an alternative publisher? Would hate to have any important article about accessibility left on the shelf.
It will surely get published one way or another. Must be soon though which is an issue; don’t want the article to be too badly outdated (started writing it nearly a year ago).
I totally agree with you that you should never use “click here” if possible. But perhaps this example was intended only in the context of “If your client absolutely insists on the text saying ‘click here,’ add this on to it to make it slightly more accessible.” It’s not ideal, of course, but better than nothing if your client really pushes you into a corner.
My article is now published here: “25 Ways To Make Your Website Accessible” http://weba.im/25axs
Zoe: Good point. That may have been the case, but there’s no reason to delay the publication of a helpful article even further with extraneous info; it’s simply not in the scope of the article. I had been expecting the article to be published for months until I received a list of dubious feedback. Furthermore, the article had been reviewed thoroughly already once before.
Pingback: 25 Ways To Make Your Website Accessible « The BAT Channel