I agree with your sentiment in general but I think this is a case where Javascript's control is justified. What if you had a game in which ctrl-click moved a group of units?
Then don't use an <a> tag, and you can capture more types of events. :) But when a page uses a link, the browser should ensure that it behaves like a link, including the ability to determine whether that link opens in the same tab/window or a different tab/window.
Or, more generally, you could request additional permissions from the browser; see the recent specifications for mouse capture and gamepad use.
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I agree with your sentiment in general but I think this is a case where Javascript's control is justified. What if you had a game in which ctrl-click moved a group of units?
Then don't use an <a> tag, and you can capture more types of events. :) But when a page uses a link, the browser should ensure that it behaves like a link, including the ability to determine whether that link opens in the same tab/window or a different tab/window.
Or, more generally, you could request additional permissions from the browser; see the recent specifications for mouse capture and gamepad use.