Hyperlink text should convey what a link will do
Accessibility
A link should give as much context as possible so users will know what will happen when the link is followed.
Reason
- Users employing screen readers often use a mode which hops from link to link
- Other visitors with a learning disability or an attention deficit may hop quickly through items on a page and need clarity around what will happen when they follow a link, so as not to add to neural load or waste energy
- Therefore, other context may not be apparent and so link text must be explicit
- For all users, the information in a properly written hyperlink label is helpful to understand what will be accessed by clicking
Best practice
- Some examples of hyperlinks that make sense and that communicate what will happen when someone clicks that link:
You can refer to the following section of this page for examples where these same items are not labelled as accessibly.
- In paragraphs of text containing hyperlinks it often becomes more important to label hyperlinks properly. For example, this is how to label these links well:
Our research involves the work of Professor E. Scrooge. Another leader in this field at Carleton is Dr. Jekyll. You can find out more about Dr. Scrooge’s research on her lab website. We also have a directory of researchers you can access and a list where you can find further economics research info on our main website.
- Context also plays a part. If you have a list of links on a page entitled About our faculty members followed by a list of linked names, the context allows people to know they will find out about the person named in each link.
Example of less accessible practices
- The same list of links above could be much less effectively created, making their purpose obscure to those skipping from link to link using a screen reader. Only the link text will be read out loud:
- Find out how to apply [This would be heard as simply “Apply”: suggests clicking on the link will take you immediately to apply, not to find out how to]
- Learn more about our campus [“Learn more” – about what?]
- Campus [“Campus” A map? A description? The Campus landing page or a map?]
- Access a map of campus [“Access” – access what exactly?]
- Access a map of campus [“Map” – a map of what though?]
- With the paragraph example under best practice above, you can see here how difficult it can be if thought is not given to the way the links are worded.
Our research involves the work of Professor E. Scrooge. Another leader in this field at Carleton is Dr. Jekyll. You can find out more about her research on her lab website. We also have a directory of researchers you can access and a list where you can find further economics research info on our main website.
[Does the first link merely open up an email, or go to a profile of the professor, or link to information about her work? “her lab website” refers to Dr. Jekyll’s, not Professor’s Scrooge’s, but using a screen reader in that mode would make a user think the opposite. Text such as “economic research” suggests general information, but the page you woll go to will actually be about further economic research.]
- When there is a lack of context it is harder for people to discern what will happen when a link is clicked. Compare:
- A page entitled “A list of labs in our department” with a list of faculty members, each as a hyperlink
with
- A page entitled “Faculty” which has the same list of names, also all linked. They might point to lab websites, they might just link to their profiles.
Adding more context in a page title or sub-heading therefore helps.
Additional benefits
- Usability: If the link is telling people who cannot view it what will happen, then it is telling everyone. Accessibility always improves usability.
- Good example: Applying for a Master’s and applying for a PhD are different processes.
- Bad example: Applying for a Master’s and applying for a PhD are different processes. Click here to find out how to apply. [to apply for which? both?]
- SEO: Search engines will push your page up the search rankings based to a high degree on links. If someone searches for “Applying to a Carleton Master’s program” a page containing a link Applying to a Carleton Master’s program is more likely to come up than one with Click here.
- Marketing: Finding links which are clearly labelled means people will get to information quickly and easily and give a good impression.
What WCAG says
As the exact meaning of links and language is obscure to software there is limited input that can be found in something like a report from WAVE. However, it knows enough to see words like “About” in a navigation menu as possibly less than optimally accessible. You can see that WAVE reports Suspicious Link Text as an alert.
(Be sure to learn more about errors and alerts.)
From WCAG:
“Help users understand the purpose of each link so they can decide whether they want to follow the link. Whenever possible, provide link text that identifies the purpose of the link without needing additional context. “