{"id":20898,"date":"2024-12-16T11:34:58","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T16:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webservices\/?page_id=20898"},"modified":"2026-07-22T09:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T13:48:21","slug":"hyperlinks-must-be-in-proper-language","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/hyperlinks-must-be-in-proper-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Hyperlinks must be in proper language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-5xl  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n            <div class=\"cu-textmedia flex flex-col lg:flex-row mx-auto gap-6 md:gap-10 my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 max-w-5xl\">\n        <div class=\"justify-start cu-textmedia-content cu-prose-first-last\" style=\"flex: 0 0 100%;\">\n            <header class=\"font-light prose-xl cu-pageheader md:prose-2xl cu-component-updated cu-prose-first-last\">\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold !mt-2 mb-4 md:mb-6 relative after:absolute after:h-px after:bottom-0 after:bg-cu-red after:left-px text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] pb-5 after:w-10 text-cu-black-700 not-prose\">\n                        Hyperlinks must be in proper language\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                                \n                            <\/header>\n\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"accessibility\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Accessibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hyperlinks must be in clear language and be meaningful (you can <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/hyperlink-text-must-convey-what-a-link-will-do\/\">learn more about accessible hyperlinks<\/a> in another post)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"reason\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reason<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Having hypertext read to you can be a frustrating and confusing ordeal if these links aren&#8217;t well-worded<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the URL itself is used it will be read to the user &#8211; also frustrating!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The meaning of a URL may never become apparent &#8211; or at the very end of several seconds of reading<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For anyone, reading a URL to try to understand when the link is annoying and possibly never going to be enlightening. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"best-practice\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Best practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some examples of hyperlink text that makes it easy to comprehend what will happen when the link is clicked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cuag.ca\/\">Visit the Carleton University Art Gallery<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/library.carleton.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Visit the MacOdrum&nbsp;Library website [in a new tab]<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webservices\">Find out about Web Services<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sprott.carleton.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2101A-S21-R.Smart-May5-1.pdf\">Read about BUSI2101A Organizational Behaviour [opens a PDF file]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>With email addresses this is important so that names are not garbled. It is best to use a call to action that describes what the anticipated outcome will be. For example, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"mailto:web@carleton.ca\">Email Web Services<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"example-of-less-accessible-practices\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example of less accessible practices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Read about the class:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universityaffairs.ca\/news\/news-article\/role-playing-games-are-breathing-new-life-into-the-history-classroom\/\">https:\/\/www.universityaffairs.ca\/news\/news-article\/role-playing-games-are-breathing-new-life-into-the-history-classroom\/<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Screen reader users may hear a URL read aloud in full, making it difficult to understand where the link leads.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many URLs reveal their meaning only at the end, after users have parsed the dashes and slashes. Even visual readers must decipher them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Words, abbreviations, acronyms, and contractions may be read differently by screen readers. For example, \u201c.ca\u201d could be read in several ways.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The same is true of email addresses, and often more so.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For example, <strong>fmp.service.centre@carleton.ca<\/strong> may be read in an unexpected way.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carleton email addresses often combine first and last names, such as <strong>georgeestephanides@cunet.carleton.ca<\/strong>. A screen reader is unlikely to pronounce the name as Professor Estephanides does.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is also important not to use all capital letters as link text. While this may seem to make text stand out, the link colour already does that.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For example:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/upass\/opt-in-and-opt-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OPT-IN NOW<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When a word is rendered differently, some users may not be able to recognize it by its shape rather than reading it phonetically.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"additional-benefits\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong class=\"myprefix-text-bold\">Usability<\/strong>: It takes some cognitive energy to look at <a href=\"mailto:emmanuel.estephanides@cunet.carleton.ca\">georgeestephanides@cunet.carleton.ca<\/a> and it decipher it as <em class=\"myprefix-text-italic\">George Estephapnides<\/em> (Georgee Stephanides? George E. Stephanides?)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong class=\"myprefix-text-bold\">SEO<\/strong>: Text has to be easily parsable by search engines. <a href=\"https:\/\/graduate.carleton.ca\/programs\/masters-programs\/\">Carleton University&#8217;s Master&#8217;s Program<\/a> is easier to parse than <a href=\"https:\/\/graduate.carleton.ca\/programs\/masters-programs\/ \">https:\/\/graduate.carleton.ca\/programs\/masters-programs\/ <\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong class=\"myprefix-text-bold\">Marketing<\/strong>: Using less energy to decipher a link (see Usability) makes people more likely to stay longer on the site and so to visit\/apply to the University.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-wcag-wave-aim-says\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What WCAG\/WAVE-AIM says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>WCAG only refers to text links being as easy to read as possible. It doesn&#8217;t mention specific measures around not using URLs but simply says that &#8220;The&nbsp;purpose of each link&nbsp;can be determined from the link text alone,&#8221; which it cannot be when only the URL is used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/hypertext\/link_text#urls\">AIM summarizes the best practices around use of URLs<\/a> on their site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WAVE does not issue a specific error or alert for this. However, that does not mean it is not a critical barrier to accessibility if ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Be sure to <a href=\"https:\/\/app.pope.tech\/result-documentation\">learn more about errors and alerts<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Make sure you use clear text, and never a URL as the text for a link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cu_dining_location_slug":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_page_type":[18,14,23],"class_list":["post-20898","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","cu_page_type-accessibility","cu_page_type-general","cu_page_type-text-and-hyperlinks"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20898"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21496,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20898\/revisions\/21496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_page_type?post=20898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}