Link or button: the same actions built three ways

The controls

Action	Real link	Real button	Fake
Go to another page	Open the help pagethe right element	a form with no fields	Open the help pagea `span` that sets `location`
Jump to a part of this page	Jump to the resultsthe right element	No plain-HTML waya button needs script to scroll	Jump to the resultsa `span` that calls `scrollIntoView()`
Show a note	Show the notea fragment link and `:target`	the right element: `popovertarget`	Show the note a `div` that toggles `hidden`

The link's note. Look at the address: it now ends in #link-note, and the back button hides this note again.

The button's note, a popover. Press Escape or click outside it to close it. The address did not change.

What to try on each control

Click this page once, then press Tab repeatedly. Which controls receive focus, and which are skipped?
On each control that has focus, press Enter. Then reload and try Space instead.
Middle-click each control, or Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on a Mac). Which ones open a new tab?
Right-click each control. Which ones offer "Copy link address" or "Open in new tab"?
With a screen reader running, list the links and the buttons on this page. Which controls appear in neither list?

The results

What Chrome, Firefox and Safari do on a desktop. "Yes" means the browser provides it with no script.

Control	Tab reaches it	Enter	Space	Middle-click, copy link	Announced as
Real link	Yes	Yes	No: scrolls the page	Yes	link
Real button	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	button
Fake `span` or `div`	No	No	No	No	plain text

The fakes work for exactly one person: someone using a mouse, clicking with the main button, who never wants a second tab. Each "No" in the last row is a feature the fake's author would have to build by hand.