xyZed wrote :
There is circumstantial evidence that on Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:56:24
I have now reverted my home page to HTML 4.01 and it validates. It
took me just 3 or 4 mins including uploading and validating. I agree
with you, and Dave, that it's no where near as big a job as I thought.
Thanks for the links.
The only problem I have is in not being able to open affiliate links
in another window. Although I agree we shouldn't open new windows for
people, I believe a substantial majority of people just don't know how
to open a link in a new window.
2 questions.
1- What makes you *so sure* that a substantial majority of people just
don't know how to open a link in a new window?
2- Let's say 12% of people do not know how to open a link in a new
window. Now, if your links open new windows, do you expect them to be
able to manage the taskbar?
Allow me to provide you some quotes:
"Research shows that most users don't like to run more than one
application at a time. In fact, many users are confused by multiple
applications."
Windows User Experience team,
Microsoft Windows User Experience Frequently Asked Questions: Why is the
taskbar at the bottom of the screen?,
March 2001
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwui/html/winuifaq.asp
"(...) some people can use Windows applications for years without
understanding the concept of task switching. (When I point to the task
bar and ask them what it's for, they can't tell me.) (...) spawning
second browser windows can completely throw users off track because it
removes the one thing they are sure how to use: the 'Back' button.(...)
In another recent study, six out of 17 users had difficulty with
multiple windows, and three of them required assistance to get back to
the first window and continue the task.
Carolyn Snyder, Seven tricks that Web users don't know: 7. Second
browser windows, June 2001
http://www.snyderconsulting.net/article_7tricks.htm#7
(...) Users often don't notice that a new window has opened, especially
if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to
fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be
confused by a grayed out Back button. Jakob Nielsen, The Top Ten New
Mistakes of Web Design: 2. Opening New Browser Windows, May 30, 1999
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html
"(...) The biggest fault with pop-ups is that it takes the focus away
from the main browser window, and this can be disconcerting. It presents
general usability issues aside from accessibility. How often have you
seen someone launch a pop-up and then inadvertently click back on the
launcher window and thinking that nothing's happened, click the link
again with nothing happening? Of course the window has opened but is now
under the launcher window, and only moving down to the task-bar and
selecting the window from there will solve this. (...) To address the
issue of a window losing focus, you can use JavaScript to re-set the focus."
Ian Lloyd, tutorial at Accessify.com, November 20th 2002
"In all dominant browsers, using the <a target="_blank"> tag to force a
link to open in a new window breaks the Back button. The new window does
not retain the browser history of the previous window, so the "Back"
button is disabled. This is incredibly confusing, even for me, and I've
been using the web for 10 years. In 2002, it's amazing that people still
do this."
Mark Pilgrim,
Dive Into Accessibility: not opening new windows, 2002
http://diveintoaccessibility.org/day_16_not_opening_new_windows.html
You can find more interesting quotes related to this topic at
http://www.gtalbot.org/Netscape7Section/Popup/PopupAndNetscape7.html
I'm sure many (like me) do prefer to
use a new window so that the original site remains where I left it if
and when I've finished looking at the new site .
The trend is not to open a new window but to open a new tab for this
sort of surfing... and to let the user do that all by himself. The
growing popularity of tab-capable browsers gives such choice,
flexibility and capability. There is an UI icon for opening a new tab in
tab-capable browsers, which is not the case for non-tab-capable browsers
for opening a new window.
Another reason why people using a tab-capable browser will prefer to
open a tab is that javascript-initiated new windows often are created
with the script author trying deliberately to remove chrome
functionalities and toolbar presences... which will not be possible with
tab-capable browsers. The user is assured of using the same UI that he
prefers when viewing a page. User prefer UI consistency
http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/DOM:window.open#Avoid_resorting_to_window.open.28.29
Just a few days ago, Microsoft confirmed that script authors will not be
able to force the opening of resources into tab.
I do agree it should
be a user choice, I just wish everyone new how to open in a new window
themselves.
Well, then explain it to those who don't: that way, you empower the
users, you give them control, you won't alienate them.
E.g.: some sites (e.g. w3schools.com:
http://www.w3schools.com/largetext.htm ) rightly explain to their users
how to increase text size if they feel the need to increase the font
size. That's a lot better than to create a script and put an icon in the
webpage to do so. Show them how to use their browsers and empower them;
don't alienate them and don't misuse javascript.
Gérard
