{"id":21499,"date":"2026-07-24T11:06:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/?page_id=21499"},"modified":"2026-07-24T11:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:06:37","slug":"using-unique-text-for-hyperlinks-on-the-same-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/using-unique-text-for-hyperlinks-on-the-same-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Using unique text for hyperlinks on the same page"},"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                        Using unique text for hyperlinks on the same page\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\"><strong>Accessibility<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Using different link language on the same page or navigation menu, when the links go to different destinations makes navigation much easier for people using screen readers, keyboards, voice control, or magnification. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"reason\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reason<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Repeated link text creates ambiguity. For example, if a navigation menu contains several links called \u201cServices\u201d but each opens a different section, users have to guess which one is correct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"best-practice\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Best practice<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Use unique, descriptive link text when links go to different destinations or perform different actions. If two links have the same visible text, they should normally go to the same place or serve the same purpose. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In menus and repeated page sections, make each link specific enough to stand alone, such as &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit Student services\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit Research services\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Visit Accessibility services.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"example-of-poor-practice\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example of poor practice<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Poor practice would be placing three different navigation links all labelled \u201cResources,\u201d in the same page with each one going to a different page. Similarly, in a nav menu, if different sections all have &#8220;About&#8221; as a link, it is not helpful to those using screen readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"additional-benefits\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Additional benefits<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Clear, specific link text improves the overall quality of a page. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"usability\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Usability<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Unique link text makes navigation easier by helping users quickly identify where links lead. This reduces confusion, supports faster scanning of content, and improves the experience for users navigating with keyboards or assistive technologies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"seo\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>SEO<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Descriptive link text helps search engines understand page relationships and content topics. Using meaningful labels instead of generic terms creates clearer site structure, improves internal linking, and provides better context about linked pages.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"marketing\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Marketing<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Clear link text creates stronger calls to action by telling users exactly what to expect. Specific labels communicate value, build confidence, and can encourage more engagement than vague links such as &#8220;Learn more.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"what-wcag-says\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What WCAG says<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.4, (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/WCAG22\/Understanding\/link-purpose-in-context.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">which you find under <em class=\"myprefix-text-italic\">Link Purpose (In Context)<\/em><\/a> on the WCAG site) says the purpose of each link must be determinable from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined context. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accessibility\u00a0 Using different link language on the same page or navigation menu, when the links go to different destinations makes navigation much easier for people using screen readers, keyboards, voice control, or magnification. &nbsp; Reason&nbsp; Repeated link text creates ambiguity. For example, if a navigation menu contains several links called \u201cServices\u201d but each opens a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"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":[18,23],"class_list":["post-21499","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","cu_page_type-accessibility","cu_page_type-text-and-hyperlinks"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21499","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21500,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21499\/revisions\/21500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_page_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/webaccessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_page_type?post=21499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}