[Sigia-l] Usability of launching new browser window?

[Benjamin Protas]

>
>Since this thread started I have been paying closer attention to how 
>different websites handle this. Although someone stated that using 
>the same window is the standard convention, I have noticed that in 
>practice there is no consistency, and many sites do choose a new 
>window for links that go to an outside site.
>

I consider opening in the same window to be the 'standard' because at a
code level, it's default behavior.  You have to do special stuff to make
links open in a new window....admittedly tho, I huge number of websites
break this perhaps questionably defined "standard".


>So now I'm curious, how DO screen readers handle a new window? 
>Normally this new window becomes the active one, so wouldn't the 
>screen reader start right in on reading it?


My experience is that most screen readers do start reading the correct
window when it opens; the problem is, the user then has no way of
knowing how to get back to where he/she was before.  The back button (in
this case, most likely activated by a hot key or voice command) no
longer works; the user has to stop and think about what happened, and
how to restore the state of the system to continue browsing.



ben