Post #1943216

2026-05-04 04:40 UTC

hey screen reader users of the fediverse, do you have thoughts on how anchor links/heading permalinks should be handled? when i say anchor links i mean links to individual headings on a web page, usually there so users can easily get a link to that heading without having to check the HTML for the heading's id element i'm trying to figure out where to land in terms of not creating too much repetitiveness (fully repeating the heading seems like a lot) vs not making the links too generic (just saying anchor or permalink seems like it would be confusing) y'all are the experts though, so I look forward to hearing any thoughts

Replies (4)

@silhelm@craftgoblin.club 2026-05-04 06:41

@inherentlee not a screen reader user but I design for screen readers. Screen reader users should get more consideration than what I say. Anchor links usually go to a header (like all the h2), which, if correctly set up, should already show up as usable navigable choices in the screen reader. I highly recommend (and I recommend this to all ui designers and frontend devs) to get a common screen reader and learn to use it (without looking, ideally, turn the monitor off), it's VERY educational.

Open ##2132662
@enne@sunny.garden 2026-05-04 07:41

@inherentlee Screen reader user. If you're mostly/only worried about labeling permalinks for screen readers, you can use aria-labelledby to give the permalink the same label as the target element (in this case the heading). This is a Heading anchor This will be spoken as something like: heading level 2 This is a Heading. same page link This is a Heading. I hope I understood what you're trying to do. There's more info here: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/link-purpose-in-context

Open ##2132669
@mdione@en.osm.town 2026-05-04 08:39

@inherentlee hashtag #blind

Open ##2132684
@anantagd@ieji.de 2026-05-04 08:47

@inherentlee keep to the aria standard. thanks. Observation: as ususal, mostly replies from sighted people and people who state outright they don't use a screen reader. Annoying. #blind

Open ##2132685