<af:skipLinkTarget>

Current accessibility standards (WCAG, 508) require that some mechanism be provided to allow end users to skip over blocks of content that are repeated on all web pages, such as navigation links. The typical solution for meeting this requirement is to insert a "skip link" at the start of the page. The skip link allows the user to jump directly to the unique page content, thus saving both keyboard and screen reader users the trouble of traversing repetitive content.

While it is possible for ADF Faces application developers to implement their own skip links using af:goLink, the af:skipLinkTarget tag simplifies this task. When the af:skipLinkTarget tag is present in an ADF Faces page, ADF Faces automatically creates a skip link at the start of the page. This skip link jumps directly to the specified skip link target. There is no need to manually insert an af:goLink or a target anchor.

One of the advantages of the af:skipLinkSolution is that the skip link provided by ADF Faces is usually hidden from view. The skip link is automatically shown when it receives the focus (ie. when the end user tabs to the skip link, which is the first tab stop in the page), and is automatically hidden again as soon as the user activates the skip link or tabs to the next element. This approach avoids extra visual clutter in the chrome area of the page. There is no need to make extra room in the UI for the skip link content - it is displayed on demand.

Note that the af:skipLink tag has the following requirements:

af:skipLinkTarget must be a descendent of af:document.
Only one af:skipLinkTarget may be present on each page.
af:skipLinkTarget must be placed directly inside of a parent component which generates content. That is, af:skipLinkTarget may not be placed inside of non-content generating components such as af:switcher, af:group, or af:iterator.
In addition to generating content, the parent of the af:skipLinkTarget must render an id attribute for its content. Most of the ADF Faces component automatically render ids, so in most cases this is not an issue. In some cases Trinidad components or components in the HTML basic render kit may not send ids to the client unless an id is explicitly specified for the component. To work around such cases, simply set an id on the parent component.

Warnings are logged in the event that any of these requirements are not met. The easiest way to avoid these issues is to place the af:skipLinkTarget inside any of the ADF Faces panel components (inside of an af:document of course). Application developers are encouraged to specify the af:skipLinkTarget once in a page template, rather than attempt to add this individually to every page.