Kilotest: Diagnoses of tab-opening link action unstated violation by HTML element 277 on Center for Democracy and Technology page

Basics

About the Center for Democracy and Technology page

• URL: https://cdt.org/
• Tested 34 days ago by job ocb on 2026-04-28 at 16:47

About HTML element 277

• Tag name: A
• Text: Sign up.
• Start tag: <a href="https://cdt.org/email-signup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">
• XPath: /html/body/div[1]/main[1]/div[1]/section[7]/div[3]/div[1]/p[1]/a[1]
• Bounding box: x = 1002, y = 3995, width = 349, height = 58

Take me there

About the tab-opening link action unstated issue

• Why it matters: Following a link opens a new window, surprising a user
• Priority: high
• Related WCAG standard: 3.2.5

Diagnoses

Here is how tools diagnose the tab-opening link action unstated issue for HTML element 277 of the Center for Democracy and Technology page.

1. <p>Readers can always choose to open a link a new window. When a link forces open a new window, it can be confusing and annoying, especially for assistive device users who may wonder why their browser's "back" button is suddenly disabled.</p> <p>There are two general exceptions:</p> <ul> <li>When the user is filling out a form, and opening a link in the same window would cause them to lose their work.</li> <li>When the user is clearly warned a link will open a new window.</li> </ul> <p><strong>To fix:</strong> set this link back its default target, or add a screen-reader accessible warning (text or an icon with alt text).</p>

   Tool: Editoria11y (Princeton University)

   Rule: linkNewWindow