Topic: Open in new window - is there a legal way?

Hi all, is there a legal way of opening a link in a new window (Without Javascript)

so similar to the _target="blank" method, but one that is accepted as markup in w3c etc.

Does such a thing exist? Or is there anything wrong with using _target="blank" anyhow?

I just want to use it to show larger versions of images in a new window.

Thanks all.

Well, you might be getting errors because it is target="_blank" I know that target is valid in frameset and I would assume it to be valid for the other DTD's as well. Strict might through a curveball at you, but I haven't used strict in a long while.

I asked this same question a while back and this was the method suggested to me here in this very forum:

<a href="yourimage.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href,'_blank');return false;"><img ... /></a>

Does this count as "without javascript"? I'm pretty sure it doesn't, but this does validate nicely

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(Edited by Bugimus on 06-22-2004 17:08)

hmm im pretty sure that counts as javascript... if someone had javaScript turned off i dont think that would work... however im not an expert in that area so i could easily be wrong.

Having the onclick event leads me to believe its is JS based tho..

I guess there is nothing very wrong with using target="_blank" (i wrote it wrong up there i know, it was right in my code).

I will just hang up the Strict DTD for that page hehe..

well, i think it doesnt get validated as xhtml strict, because it works fine with xhtml transitional....

People use XHTML strict for one of two reasons

1) They need their document to be treated as an XML document for some server parse things.
2) They have some ideological issues that make them use strict.

Programatically if you are going to be using a strict doctype you would not want to place code in your page that would target a non-existant source. Programatically it does not make sense, since a link is a reference to a new source on its own. The target attribute is redundant.

If you are using a strict doctype for ideological purposes you would also not want to use the target attribute because it is not accessable. The target="_blank" imposes the designers methodology on its users. Under the browser the user should be allowed a choice, they could choose to open the window in a new tab or they could choose to open it in the same window, they might even choose to open it in a new window, but it is their choice and not the designers.

So this long rant just goes on to show you that you should most likely be using a transitional style sheet. With the huge variety of browsers and the huge number of errors in rendering according to the specifications it doesn't make sence to impose strict rules into your design. This will just promote more work arounds that will put us in the same mess that we were in during the period of intense table hacking.

Yeh, i would fall into class 2... Most of my pages do successfully get through as strict, and work in most browsers - i guess im of the opinion if there is a away (and its not a massive workaround) then i will do it to get strict, mind you i still use transitional where required.

I guess i was also thinking of the XHTML markup, however im not even sure if the target attribute produces an error in this DTD

We have looked into this issue quite a few times and I've never found any solution completely satisfactory. My conclusion is that I will (when I have the time) look into modular XHTML and add in the frame module giving me back valid access to the target tag. If people want to open the link in the same window or another window they can still do so through the right click options as far as I'm aware.

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Yeh i did look a bit into modular XHTML and cusom DTD's to do the job....

but seriously, its soo much more effort - which in reality doesn't justify the gain imo.

Normally i dont do the whole open in a new window thing, but for this case i want to do it when they click on thumbnails to view a larger size, rather then show the pic in the whole page again. I know i normally use the right click option, but you would be suprised the ammount of people that really don't know about it, or forget to use it. So to me its an accessibility issue.

Lol, I don't think you really understand accessibility. It is not about ease of use for normal people (who don't understand how their applications work). Making an accessible website is the act of making your website accessible by those with disabilities. What you are talking about isn't accessibility but is usability. This is the difference between Jacob Nielsen and Joe Clark. It is a somewhat important distinction. Although making a usable website often includes also making it accessible.

For accessiblity linking to an image alone is not really a nice thing to do. By doing that you do not provide alt text. Unless you give a nice side by side description of the image and then link to the bigger one. But most times linking to an image isn't all that nice if you want to be accessible. Sorry for the rant, it is one I had to make often to my designers, as well as to content creaters who didn't like to hear that their 500 page PDF wasn't an accessible document and that I require a text only version as well.

Yeh i guess the right word would have been useable in that case. So call it a useability issue..

As far as accessibility goes anyhow, you can use the title tag in a link to describe the image - and since its coming from a thumbnail then the thumbnail already has the alt attribute.