External Link text for screen readers?

  • Resolved Vanderbeam

    (@vanderbeam)


    5 years, 11 months ago

    I’ve been using this plugin in for a while and a screen reader used to call out “[Link] External Link” – it’s no longer doing this because the icons appear to be implemented via the stylesheet. So my screen reader is not identifying them as external links at all.

    I’ve been having to add the following script to my client’s sites:

    // Add screen reader text to external links
$( ".wpel-icon-right" ).append( "<span class='sr-only'>External Link, Opens a new tab</span>" );

    But ideally, something like this would be available out of the box. Is an accessibility feature along these lines something you plan on implementing anytime soon?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Manuel Rocha

    (@manuelrocha88)

    5 years, 11 months ago

    @vanderbeam there is a field called title in the configuration of external links… Isn’t that enough to put that message?

    Thread Starter Vanderbeam

    (@vanderbeam)

    5 years, 11 months ago

    I was completely overlooking that! Of course, leave it to a developer to create a complex solution to a simple problem that already has a solution, haha. Thank you!

    However, the results seem to be a bit inconsistent on links, and I’m not quite sure what this will mean to you.

    I ran the screen reader back over the links on the page I was using to check, and sure enough two of the links read “link external link, opens in new tab” (which plays off of my “{title} External Link, Opens a new tab”). However, the third link read “link opens in new tab, external link, opens in new tab.” I confirmed my theory that the person who created this page set that third link as “Open in New Tab” in the WP editor, but not the others (even though they’re all external links). So I know it’s picking up that preceding “opens in new tab” from the editor itself. I have all my settings in WPEL to override existing settings, but that particular one is still shining through.

    On a handful of my clients, I could always ensure ALL external links are set to Open in a new tab and change my title to just “{title} External Link” to prevent the annoyance of duplicate information, but on many of my clients, especially those who have multiple content editors with varied “tech savviness”, I can’t predict the mish-mosh of external links that will be both set to open in a new tab, or rely on WPEL to ensure they do. Do you have a suggestion to override the existing “Open in New Two” generated by WordPress via the plugin?

    Manuel Rocha

    (@manuelrocha88)

    5 years, 10 months ago

    @vanderbeam can you share the page and location of that link?

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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