How to write descriptive link text that makes sense out of context.

Why link text gets read on its own

W3C’s explanation of WCAG success criterion 2.4.4 says assistive technology can give users a list of the links on a page, and that link text which is as meaningful as possible helps people choose from that list. The stated aim is to help users understand a link’s purpose so they can decide whether to follow it.

So a link is not only read inside its sentence. It can also be met as one entry in a list, with the surrounding words gone.

What the standard asks for

Criterion 2.4.4 (Level A) says the purpose of each link should be determinable from the link text alone or from the link text together with its context, such as the enclosing sentence. W3C’s technique G53 gives an example where “click here” is acceptable because the sentence before it explains the destination.

A stricter criterion, 2.4.9 (Level AAA), asks that the purpose can be understood from the link text alone. W3C lists vague text such as “click here” or “more” as a failure of that criterion when nothing clarifies the destination. Writing links that stand alone meets both.

Rewrite the vague ones

• Name the destination or task: “read the export instructions”, not “click here”.
• Put the explanation before the link. W3C notes that a description placed after a link can confuse screen reader users who read the page in order.
• Keep the text short enough to scan, but long enough to be different from the other links on the page.
• Do not use “read more” alone under a headline. Link the headline, or write “Read more about [topic]”.
• Give links with the same destination the same wording, and links with different destinations different wording. W3C’s explanation of 2.4.9 describes this rule.

A fictional before-and-after

Imagine a fictional article with three links, all reading “here”: “For the checklist, click here. For the template, click here. To contact us, click here.” Read as a list, they are three identical entries.

Rewritten: “Use the review checklist. Copy the handoff template. Contact the editor.” Each entry now says what it opens, and none needs the sentence around it. The example is invented for illustration.

Review your links as a list

• Copy every link label from the draft into a plain list.
• Read the list without the article. Can you tell where each one goes?
• Do any two labels match but lead to different pages?
• Do any different labels lead to the same page, so that readers may think they are different?
• Does any label depend on text that comes only after the link?

Limits of this advice

This checklist is our suggested routine based on the W3C pages, not a conformance test. W3C allows a link’s purpose to be unclear when it would be ambiguous to everyone, such as a deliberately mysterious puzzle link, which is rare in practical writing. Descriptive text also does not make a link correct: use the separate link-checking guide to confirm that the destination supports your statement.

Use this next

• Check the links in your article before publishing
• Write headings that help readers
• How to write alt text