Web Development
Web Developer Guidelines
Visual Design Recommendations

Checkpoint 1.10 - RSS

Use the <link> element to create a relationship between the web page and the RSS feeds

WCAG 1.0 Priority 2

WCAG Guideline 13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.

RSS feed aggregators are able to present the user with a list of feeds on a particular web page for subscribing if the <link> element has been included in the <head> HTML of the page. Some web browsers, such as Firefox, also display an RSS icon in the address line of the browser if one or more RSS feeds are found on a web page. Clicking on this RSS icon drops down a list of the available RSS feeds which the user can immediate subscribe to.

Requirement

Ensure a <link> element is used for each RSS feed on the page.

Recommendation

Each RSS feed can have its own <link> statement. If only one <link> statement is included on the page, this page will be the one subscribed to by the feed aggregator with the user enters the page URL into the feed aggregator or clicks on the Firefox RSS icon in the address bar. If there is more than one <link> statement, then the feed aggregator and Firefox gives the user a choice of RSS feeds to subscribe to.

The <link> URL should appear as:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS - Schools" href="/schools.xml">

The content of the title attribute is user-defined and is displayed to the user in some feed aggregators. The href attribute can be either relative or absolute.

Checking Tool

  • Internet Explorer - AIS toolbar: Doc Info > Link Element Navigation > Alternate will present any RSS links
  • Firefox: Look for the RSS icon in the address line

Information Source

The original source of this information is located on the W3C web site  (www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#tech-clear-nav-mechanism)

 

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