Link Text

Descriptive, meaningful link text is essential for screen-reader navigation. Screen-reader users can search a page by pulling up a list of links out of the page context. Because users won't have the usual context clues to help them understand where a link will take them, the link text must clearly indicate this. Although the links list puts the links in the order they occur on the page, users can search them by the first letter, which is why it is important that the first word is meaningful.

Link Text Requirements

To create accessible links, keep the following best practices in mind: 

  • Ensure link text is meaningful when removed from the surrounding context, such as the title of the website, article, or video being linked to.
  • Avoid creating links that use a repetitive word at the beginning (e.g., use text like Home Page, Schedule, and Syllabus rather than Course Home Page, Course Schedule, and Course Syllabus).
  • Make the first word of the link text the most descriptive word ("Library Home Page," not "link to Library Home Page" and not "Click here to go to the Library Home Page").
  • Use unique text for each link on a page.

Link Text Errors

The following are common accessibility errors in link text:

  • The link text is the URL.
  • The link text is too long or too short.
  • The link text is not meaningful (does not give specific enough information) such as the following examples:
    • here
    • link
    • click here
    • website
    • ITS Knowledge Base Article
    • PowerPoint presentation
  • The first word is not the most meaningful, as in "visit this site to . . ." or "click here to find out more about . . ."
  • Links to the same website on the same page have different link text.
  • The same link text is used for links to different destinations such as
    • a page with many transcripts where all the links are just "transcript,"
    • a page with many show/hides where all the links are just "show," or
    • a page that links to different pages of the same website with no indication that the links go to different locations.

 

Updated February, 2020