make_clickable is not creating title attribute

[Confridin]

Hi,

I discovered the make_clickable function a few time ago. It converts URI, www, ftp and email addresses into links. The regex works fine but doesn't add the title attribute to the link.

For exemple, here is a sample texte

this is a text with a link : http://www.website.com

With make_clickable, a link is added :

this is a text with a link : <a href="http://www.website.com">http://www.website.com</a>

But a correct html link should contains a title attribute, like this

this is a text with a link : <a href="http://www.website.com" title="http://www.website.com">http://www.website.com</a>

The issue comes from those functions (into wp-includes/formatting.php
_make_web_ftp_clickable_cb
_make_url_clickable_cb
_make_email_clickable_cb

_make_url_clickable_cb
This code

return $matches[1] . "<a href=\"$url\" rel=\"nofollow\">$url</a>" . $suffix;

shoulde be replaced by

return $matches[1] . "<a href=\"$url\" title=\"$url\" rel=\"nofollow\">$url</a>" . $suffix;

_make_web_ftp_clickable_cb
This code

return $matches[1] . "<a href=\"$dest\" rel=\"nofollow\">$dest</a>$ret";

shoulde be replaced by

return $matches[1] . "<a href=\"$dest\" title=\"$dest\" rel=\"nofollow\">$dest</a>$ret";

_make_email_clickable_cb
This code

return $matches[1] . "<a href=\"mailto:$email\">$email</a>";

shoulde be replaced by

return $matches[1] . "<a href=\"mailto:$email\" title=\"$email\">$email</a>";

Do you think it should be corrected ?

Regards,

Daniel Roch.

What's the benefit of duplicating the URL in the title attribute? There can surely be no SEO benefit.

The title attribute is used for accessibility, including several softwares using it to read a link for blind people.

It is also recommanded in the W3C standard.

The link text would be read by a screenreader - no need for a title, especially one that doesn't give any more information. Unnecessary title attributes are actually quite detrimental for accessibility: ​http://www.rnib.org.uk/professionals/webaccessibility/wacblog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?id=38

Thanks for your answer Helen. For urls links, it really makes sense.

Should email and FTP links use a meaningful title attribute, like "send an email to" or "ftp connexion to" ? (for _make_web_ftp_clickable_cb and _make_email_clickable_cb).

Title attributes are almost always a terrible idea: ​http://www.rnib.org.uk/professionals/webaccessibility/wacblog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?id=38

Title attributes are almost always a terrible idea

Loudly seconded!

Most experienced screen reader users use their software in non-verbose mode - which means that title attribute rendering is turned off. As an aside, this is almost certainly the result of sites in the past using title attributes for keyword stuffing which resulted in lots of unwanted "noise".

Voice recognition (VR) users and other sighted keyboard navigators (e.g. switch users) have absolutely no access to the title attribute.

tl;dr: The title attribute should never be relied upon to convey important information. If it's important enough to be added to a page, then (ideally) it should be in clear text where everyone can see it.

Ok, i understand that it may hurt usability.