Hubbard Independent School District - Board Agenda

Hubbard Independent School District - Required Informational Postings

Hubbard Independent School District - Forms

Hubbard Independent School District - Texas Education Agency, SPEDTex Parent Resources

Hubbard Independent School District - Home

Hubbard Independent School District - Dyslexia

Hubbard Independent School District - Staff

Hubbard Independent School District - Budget

Hubbard Independent School District - Hubbard School Board Policy

Hubbard Independent School District - Job Listings

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

March 2026

February 2026

Hubbard ISD

Title / URL	Issues
Hubbard Independent School District - Board Agendahubbardisd.net/88420_3	100
Hubbard Independent School District - Required Informational Postingshubbardisd.net/75566_2	36
Hubbard Independent School District - Formshubbardisd.net/75593_2	25
Hubbard Independent School District - Texas Education Agency, SPEDTex Parent Resourceshubbardisd.net/51160_3	24
Hubbard Independent School District - Homewww.hubbardisd.net/	23
Hubbard Independent School District - Dyslexiahubbardisd.net/75572_2	23
Hubbard Independent School District - Staffhubbardisd.net/26302_1	22
Hubbard Independent School District - Budgethubbardisd.net/75592_2	22
Hubbard Independent School District - Hubbard School Board Policyhubbardisd.net/75594_2	20
Hubbard Independent School District - Job Listingshubbardisd.net/75597_2	20

Ensure links explain they open in a new tab

Hubbard ISD

Where this issue has occurred