Accessing online support services can be dangerous for some users, such as domestic abuse survivors. Many support service websites contain ``quick exit'' buttons that provide an easy way for users to escape the site. We investigate where exit buttons and other escape mechanisms are currently in use (country and type of site) and how they are implemented. We analyse both the security and usability of exit mechanisms on 323 mobile and 404 desktop sites. We find exit buttons typically replace the current page with another site, occasionally opening additional tabs. Some exit buttons also remove the page from the browser history. When analysing the design choices and shortcomings of exit button implementations, common problems include cookie notices covering the buttons, and buttons not remaining on the screen when scrolling. We provide recommendations for designers of support websites who want to add or improve this feature on their website.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581078
The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (https://chi2023.acm.org/)