Change Default Settings for External Links in Demo Content to Not Alter Links with a Default Target Value

Problem/Motivation

Accessibility audits (e.g., with axe, Lighthouse, or Siteimprove) report the following issue in the Varbase Demo Homepage and other demo pages:

Manual check: is opening a new window expected?

When links in the demo content are configured to open in a new browser tab or window (target="_blank") without providing a warning or explanation, it can confuse users, especially those using assistive technologies.
Screen readers or keyboard users may not realize that their browser context has changed, disrupting their navigation flow.

Example

On the demo homepage:

<a href="https://www.drupal.org/project/diff" target="_blank">Diff module</a>

and

<a href="https://varbase.vardot.com/features" target="_blank">See All Varbase’s Features</a>

These links open new tabs without notifying the user.

Accessibility Impact

Violates WCAG 2.2 – Success Criterion 3.2.5 (Change on Request) and 2.4.4 (Link Purpose).
Users of screen readers may not realize a new window/tab opened.
Causes inconsistent and unexpected browsing behavior.

Proposed resolution

Change the default settings for External Links to :

• Disable on admin routes.
• Do not alter links with a default target value
• Tag external links as "no follow".
• Do not override rel="follow", if set

Set the demo content external links target="_self" to pass with WCAG 2.2 – Success Criterion 3.2.5

Remaining tasks

• ✅ File an issue about this project
• ✅ Addition/Change/Update/Fix to this project
• ✅ Testing to ensure no regression
• ➖ Automated unit/functional testing coverage
• ➖ Developer Documentation support on feature change/addition
• ➖ User Guide Documentation support on feature change/addition
• ➖ UX/UI designer responsibilities
• ➖ Accessibility and Readability
• ✅ Code review from 1 Varbase core team member
• ✅ Full testing and approval
• ✅ Credit contributors
• ✅ Review with the product owner
• ✅ Update Release Notes and Update Helper on new feature change/addition
• ✅ Release varbase-10.1.0-beta1, varbase_core-10.1.60, varbase-10.0.8, varbase_core-10.0.54, varbase-9.1.12, varbase_core-9.1.58

Varbase update type

• ✅ No Update
• ➖ Optional Update
• ➖ Forced Update
• ➖ Forced Update if Unchanged

User interface changes

• N/A

API changes

• N/A

Data model changes

• N/A

Release notes snippet

• [#3553367] fix(a11y): Changed Default Settings for External Links in Demo Content to Not Alter Links with a Default Target Value