Here is my comment on the blog Tackling Accessibility on The Web by @Treehouse.
An OK article, but a few of the techniques are incorrect/outdated. The data table caption is for a *title*, not a description. Never use tabindex (except 0 and -1 for keyboard focus with JavaScript interaction). Title attributes on links (and in general) is no longer recommended; screen readers usually don’t read them, browsers don’t support them for keyboard users, and it’s not supported (hardly) on mobile. Most implementations just have redundant information anyway. Also note that ARIA landmark roles are a good place to start learning ARIA, but there is much, much more to learn.
Another comment also states that the title attribute on links is not a great practice and provides a couple great links. Also note that the title attribute is still a must for an iFrame to describe its content.
2 replies on “My Comment on “Tackling Accessibility on The Web””
Yes, there certainly is quite a lot of misleading information there; plus some outright bad advice. I was especially annoyed to see the recommendation for positive tabindex integers in forms: many popular websites seem to do this on their comment forms (perhaps it is in a CMS) and it annoys the heck out of me when they jump to the bottom of the page.
I know that the authors mean well, but it is a shame to see this steady trickle of bad advice from mainstream websites. If they did their research, it would not happen.
Great comment, thank you!