Cryptocurrency Investing | Cryptocurrency Investment Types | Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Cards from American Express

What is an IRA? | Open an Individual Retirement Account | Charles Schwab

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Charles Schwab | A Modern Approach to Investing and Retirement Planning | Charles Schwab

Trading | Charles Schwab

Brokerage account | Charles Schwab

Trading Support | Charles Schwab

Investment Products | Charles Schwab

Open a Checking Account Online | Schwab Bank

Avoid opening links in a new tab or window. Where you must do this, include an explanation
in the text of the link.

## Why this matters

Opening links in a new tab or window breaks the back button and can be disorientating for 
novice web users, and the visually impaired. Generally you should avoid opening links in a
new tab or window, but if you have to, you should include text explaining that this will happen.

## How to fix

An explanation must be clear in the accessible text for the link. For example:

```html
<a href="products.html" target="_blank">
    Products (opens in new window)
</a>
```

Or, for an image inside a link:

```html
<a href="products.html" target="_blank">
    <img src="products.jpg" alt="Products (opens in new window)">
</a>
```

Rather than updating all of your links manually to do this, you can add a simple CSS
selector, such as:

```css
a[target="_blank"]:after {
    content: " (opens in new window)";
}
```

Note that doing this with an icon, is not sufficient to pass this check. The text must be
readable by screen readers.

Alternatively you can override the link text for accessible technologies (like screenreaders),
so that the appearance of the link does not change. For example:

```html
<a href="products.html" target="_blank" aria-label="Products (opens in new window)">
    Products
</a>
```

Note that if you do this, the `aria-label` will replace the text content of the link completely,
so it must still make sense in isolation.

## Terminology

Although it is common to say "opens in new window", almost all browsers now use tabs, and
so this terminology is potentially confusing. You may prefer: "opens in new tab".

## Methodology

1. Silktide considers all links on a page with a `target` attribute of `_blank`.
2. For each link, Silktide considers the screen-readable text of the link, which includes:
   * The text content of the link
   * Any `alt` text inside any images inside the link
   * Any `aria-label` or `aria-labelled-by` text
   * The `content` of the pseudo-elements `:before` and `:after`
3. This text is analysed for the presence of common text, including "opens new tab"
    and "opens new window". If the text is not found, the link fails the test.

## Further reading

Generally best practice is to avoid opening links in a new tab or window.  

The W3C provides detailed guidance on 
[when opening a link in a new window may be appropriate](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G200.html).

link-text-explains-open-in-new-window

December 2025

November 2025

Charles Schwab

	Title / URL	Issues
	Cryptocurrency Investing \| Cryptocurrency Investment Types \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/cryptocurrency	35
	Charles Schwab Cards from American Expresswww.schwab.com/credit-cards	22
	What is an IRA? \| Open an Individual Retirement Account \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/ira	19
	First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.schwab.com/	19
	Charles Schwab \| A Modern Approach to Investing and Retirement Planning \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/	19
	Trading \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/trading	18
	Brokerage account \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/brokerage	17
	Trading Support \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/trading/support	16
	Investment Products \| Charles Schwabwww.schwab.com/investment	16
	Open a Checking Account Online \| Schwab Bankwww.schwab.com/checking	16

Ensure links explain they open in a new tab

Charles Schwab

Where this issue has occurred