Dear Tumblr users:
There’s a cultural thing on Tumblr that if people changed just a little, would be a big accessibility win. You know the technique of linking to the source of content with just a linked “X”, eg: [x], or numbers, eg 1, 2, and 3? Please don’t do this.
That tiny “X” makes a tiny, tiny target. It’s hard to see if you have vision impairments or other visual processing issues. It’s hard to navigate to with a mouse for users with mobility issues, and a nearly impossible target for many people with small touch screens. For screen reader users, it simply announces as “link: X” and can be very difficult to understand out of context. For people with cognitive processing issues, it’s a link that tells the user nothing about its destination.
And most of these limitations can also be problems for able-bodied people!
Instead, using meaningful link text. Some examples might be
For a video, the title of the video is a pretty good choice, eg “How Blind People Use Twitter & You Tube on the iPhone 4S”. Or “Source”, or “source at YouTube”, or “video source”.
It’s a little thing which can be hugely beneficial to people with disabilities. Thanks, and I hope you consider changing how you link.
(Please reblog, too!)
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