[thelist] Looking for Mr. JavaScript

[Sam Carter]

Thanks everyone for the JavaScript help.

Some sentiment about "why bother" was expressed and I'd like to know more
from the community about this.  Let me begin by explaining our reasoning for
including a "back" link.

There is a perception (around here) that orphaned pages (without other
navigation e.g. nav menus) when equipped with a "back" button have better
Section 508 compliance and the usability for end users is better .   We have
a few of these pages in the courses we write.  These are pages that provide
"additional information" on a topic, can be called from multiple locations,
and we want the users to return to the "calling" page without going
elsewhere - ergo - there's no other navigation links on these "additional
information" page.

Without a "back" button, the page would have no nav links at all.  But is
the browser's back button any less convenient?  Not for me, but I've got to
design these pages such that computer illiterate persons can navigate
without having to think.  Am I making them think if there's no back button?
What about Section 508 users using page readers?  Do readers have a back
button functionality, or must the page end with a nav link like "Click here
to return to the previous page"?

I imagine there is plenty of opinion about this topic, and I'd look forward
to reading any comments, or URLs that discuss this aspect of Section 508 and
web usability.

Sam