Section edit links currently emit HTML ~= the following (modulo 2 editlinks, etc. etc.):
<span class="mw-editsection"> <span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span> <a href="editlink" title="title">edit</a> <span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span> </span>
Volker noted that screen readers read the brackets out (in T13555: .mw-editsection links should not be part of the <h#> element, specifically T13555#6474274). Some other observations:
They are IMO only (somewhat) useful for visual users, exposing them in a screenreader seems verbose to me, as the link gets read out anyways separate object. The divider, as of current <span class="mw-editsection-divider"> | </span>, might make sense, but even that is debatable. We could consider adding aria-hidden="true" to the brackets.
I think it would make sense to push these into CSS instead:
I would guess the brackets being in the HTML is something for older browsers that may be unsupported now. Is there a reason those couldn't be moved to CSS ::before and ::after instead pending some ultimate resolution to this task? Timeless display: nones the brackets in favor of CSS adding a little pen icon on .mw-editsection. I don't really see how Minerva is adding the icon but it also has no brackets though? I don't see an HTML img and I don't see the CSS for background-image (Javascript-added image?).
Here's the new task suggested therein.
