Program Finder | Fitchburg State University

100% Online | Fitchburg State University

Admissions and Aid | Fitchburg State University

Alumni and Giving | Fitchburg State University

Visit | Fitchburg State University

Arts and Culture | Fitchburg State University

Campus Life | Fitchburg State University

Dining Services | Fitchburg State University

Commuter Affairs | Fitchburg State University

Academics | Fitchburg State University

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

January 2025

December 2024

Fitchburg State University

Title / URL	Issues
Program Finder \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/academics/program-finder	37
100% Online \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/academics/100-online	36
Admissions and Aid \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/admissions-and-aid	31
Alumni and Giving \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/alumni	28
Visit \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/admissions-and-aid/visit	28
Arts and Culture \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/campus-life/arts-and-culture	24
Campus Life \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/campus-life	23
Dining Services \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/campus-life/dining-services	23
Commuter Affairs \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/student-support/commuter-affairs	23
Academics \| Fitchburg State Universitywww.fitchburgstate.edu/academics	22

Ensure links explain they open in a new tab

Fitchburg State University

Where this issue has occurred