Link Text Accessibility

In a previous article, "Tackling the Top 3 Link Issues on Municipal Websites," we explored the significance of links in optimizing user experience and using them effectively in web content. Building on this foundation, we’re going to dive into link text accessibility, a crucial element in making your content more user-friendly and inclusive. There are two key parts of link accessibility: link text should be descriptive, and links must be visually distinguishable from surrounding text.

How to Write Descriptive Links

Descriptive links play an important role in enhancing accessibility for several reasons. Screen reader users often navigate web pages by tabbing through links, relying on descriptive link text to understand each link's purpose. Speech recognition software users need clear link text for selecting the appropriate link. Descriptive links also aid users with cognitive disabilities in comprehending content. 

The benchmark for determining if link text is adequately descriptive is whether the link's purpose can be understood without relying on surrounding context. In other words, if you read only the link text, should you be able to discern the link's destination or function?

Here are some tips for crafting descriptive link text:

  • Avoid generic phrases like "click here" or "learn more." Instead, use specific and informative link text.
  • Ensure that all link text is unique. When dealing with similar links, provide enough detail in the link text to distinguish them from one another.
  • Avoid pasting URLs as link text, as they are difficult to comprehend for screen reader users and generally unfriendly to all users.
  • Refrain from adding "link" to your link text. Screen readers announce links as such before reading the link text, and visual users can already identify links through styling.
  • Include the document format for file links. While not mandatory for accessibility compliance, it's helpful to inform users about the file type they are accessing.

Here are some examples of improved link text:

Visually distinguish your links in documents

In most Content Management Systems (CMS), links come pre-styled and can’t be changed. However, when working with document editors like Word or InDesign, you have the flexibility to customize link styles. But as with most things in accessibility, more flexibility means more responsibility to ensure the changes you’re making aren’t causing accessibility issues. 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) requirement for links essentially boils down to requiring that links are distinguished by colour and style from their surrounding text. Blue text with underlining is the standard on the web, so sticking with this is usually best as it’s what users expect. However, if you’re working with a highly visual document, you do have the flexibility to change the colour to fit your colour scheme, or change to bolding instead of underlining. Just make sure your link colour choice meets contrast requirements!

Final thoughts

Links are an area of web content where the principles of general user experience and accessibility are completely aligned. This makes it easy to improve the experience of all your users by making just a few adjustments to your writing. By following best practices for crafting descriptive links and adhering to the accessibility requirements outlined above, you can significantly enhance your content's usability and accessibility for all users.

Similar Posts