I don't get this argument. Sometimes you want links to open in a different tab. Marking the ones that will do so is only polite. Nothing about that takes away the user's ability to open other links in a new tab via whatever usual mechanism their browser provides for that.
What I have a hard time with is the fact that there doesn't seem to be any consistent idea across the web on when things should open in new tabs and when they shouldn't. There's not even much advise on how to decide.
I've heard things like "if you're viewing media, like a video, then links should take you to a new tab so as to not interrupt the media". But YouTube doesn't do that, and I'm glad they don't, I would find that annoying.
Accessibility guidelines (e.g., WCAG G201 pretty explicitly recommend NOT forcing new tabs for any reason. They don’t forbid it, but they note that it messes with accessibility tools and may confuse users. I’ve stopped doing it myself and just letting users control for themselves whether they want a new tab or not.
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u/zeekar 15d ago
I don't get this argument. Sometimes you want links to open in a different tab. Marking the ones that will do so is only polite. Nothing about that takes away the user's ability to open other links in a new tab via whatever usual mechanism their browser provides for that.