How to make hyperlinked buttons more accessible to screen reader software in FrontPage 2003 (831082)

INTRODUCTION

This article discusses how to change the behavior of hyperlinks that were created with the Go To URL feature in Web pages that were created in Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003. This behavior changes the problem where some screen reading software could not read the hyperlinks that were created with the Go To URL feature if the Web browser has the Scripting option turned off (disabled).

If the Scripting option is turned off, you must use the <noscript> tag so that the screen readers can follow the hyperlink.

MORE INFORMATION

The Go To URL feature in FrontPage 2003 is implemented through a JScript function. This requires that the Scripting option is turned on (enabled) in the Web browser. The JScript function is typically used for buttons and for other objects.

When you create a hyperlink with the Go To URL feature, FrontPage 2003 creates the following Jscript code segment to handle the URL address:

<p><input type="button" value="Link Button" name="B1" 
onclick="FP_goToURL(/*href*/'http://URL_Address')"></p>

If the Scripting option has been turned off, the onclick event is not processed, and a readable URL address is not created for screen reader software. You can use the <noscript> tag to work around the problem. The <noscript> tag would take the following form:

<noscript><a href=http://URL_Address>Link Text</a></noscript>

You would then change the HTML code segment to the following code:

<p><input type="button" value="Link Text" name="B1" 
onclick="FP_goToURL(/*href*/'http://URL_Address')"> 
<noscript><a href=http://URL_Address>Link Text</a></noscript></p>

To change the HTML code segment, follow these steps:

Open the Web page that you want to change in FrontPage 2003.
Click the button or the object that you want to change on the Web page.
Click the Code tab on the bottom of the page to switch to HTML code view. The HTML code for the button will be selected.
Add the <noscript> HTML code before the </p> tag.
Click the Preview tab on the bottom of the page to preview the Web page.