Accessibility on back to top link

Question

I am working on a web page which is relatively long (4+ pages). For ease of use I have added the back to top link at the bottom of the page.

I would like to know, whether I can skip this link from screen readers or assistive tools by using aria-hidden="true" and tabindex="-1". Does this fail the accessibility criteria ?

Since the back to top arrow is visible at the bottom of the page, is it necessary to make this link available for screen reader users ? So far my understanding is home key serves as back to top for keyboard/screen reader users.

Any suggestions would be really helpful.

Answer 1

You shouldn't be focusing on any one single user's experience. For example, if you have that 'Back to Top' link in logical spots, it should not be taken out of tab order because you're only considering one type of user experience. A the same time, accessible features shouldn't impede on a normal experience.

That said, on a pure development basis, links should receive focus so it does fail since it's not completely operable.