Accessible Link Text

General Information

Assistive technology (AT) allows users to pull up a list of links. Because of this link text needs to be meaningful out of context. Additionally, AT reads aloud the link text on pages so having several links on the same page with the exact same title, such as “more” or “read here”, becomes annoying and slows a users ability to navigate your site.

Why is meaningful link text important?

  • Screen readers pull up lists of links and reads them out so they need to be written in meaningful text to provide users with meaning.
  • Links such as “Click Here” or “More” don’t provide any information to screen readers and are meaningless out of context.
  • Meaningful link text allows users to perceive, operate and understand, POUR principles.

How to create meaningful link text:

  • Make link text informative.
  • The link text should provide context and meaning.
Citation: [NNgroup] (2019, Oct. 25) Better Labels for Website Links: the 4 S’s for Encouraging Clicks (2:51min)