How Does Jaws Handle Link Text?

Have you ever wondered how Jaws handles link text?

Jaws has a hierarchy to the way it handles link text.

• First: It looks for and reads any link text it finds.
  
• Second: If no link text is available, it looks for an image and reads it's alt attribute.
  
• Third. If no link text or image is available, it looks for and reads the anchor's title attribute.

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1. Simple Link Text

Code:
<a href="#">Edit</a>

Result:
Edit

Jaws reads "Edit this page link."
Jaws finds the link text, announces it is linking to "this page". This is poor link text. First, what are you editing? And second, Jaws uses the key word "edit" to announce an INPUT TYPE=TEXT as an "Edit" field.

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2. Compound Link Text with embedded graphic

Code:
<a href="#">Edit<img src="Donsbuddyicon.bmp" alt="Don's Picture"></a>

Result:
Edit

Jaws reads "Edit this page link graphic"
Jaws finds the link text, announces it is linking to "this page" and then announces a graphic, but ignores it's alt attribute.

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3. Compound Link Text with embedded graphic and title in the anchor

Code:
<a title="image title" href="#">Edit<img src="DonsBuddyIcon.bmp" alt="Don's Picture"></a>

Result:
Edit

Jaws reads "Edit this page link graphic"
Jaws finds the link text, announces it is linking to "this page" and then announces a graphic, but ignores it's alt attribute and the title in the anchor.

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4. No Title in Anchor with no alt in image no link text.

Code:
<a "href="#"><img src="DonsBuddyIcon.bmp"></a>

Result:


Jaws reads "dot slash DonsBuddyIcon this page link graphic."
Without link text or an alt attribute in the IMG tag, Jaws will default to reading the src attribute

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5. Title in Anchor with no alt in image no link text.

Code:
<a title="Don's buddy icon" "href="#"><img src="DonsBuddyIcon.bmp"></a>

Result:


Jaws reads "dot slash DonsBuddyIcon this page link graphic."
Without link text or an alt attribute in the IMG tag, Jaws will default to reading the src attribute. In this case Jaws ignores the Title attribute

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6. Title in Anchor with no link text and no img as link.

Code:
<a title="Don's buddy icon" "href="#"></a>

Result:


Jaws reads "Don's buddy icon this page link.
I can't imagine why you would use an empty link, but that is about the only way to get an anchor title to be read by jaws.

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7. Title in Anchor with img as link and no alt attribute.

Code:
<a title="Don's buddy icon" "href="#"><img src="DonsBuddyIcon.bmp"></a>

Result:


Jaws reads "dot slash DonsBuddyIcon this page link.
Again, the title in the anchor is ignored when there is an image.

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• W3C 2.0 Text Equivalents