What Makes a Link Inaccessible?
Lack of Context
Blind and low-vision users often encounter links out of context. Ambiguous or repetitive link text (“Click here,” “Read more,”) can obscure the purpose of a link.
Imagine you use a screen reader for onscreen text. You pull up a list of all links on a page, then hear your screen reader recite, “Click here. Click here. Click here.” Which of these is the link you want?
Or imagine you typically enlarge text by 400%. You’re skimming a page and you come across a link that says “Read more.” You can’t see the surrounding text without scrolling. Is this the article you’re looking for?
Lack of Descriptive Text
Users need clear information about where a link will take them. Imagine you’re reading a PDF and encounter a link, and you hear your screen reader begin, “H… T... T… P… S… Colon… Slash… Slash…” You’ve got all day to listen to a URL, right?
Spacing
Users with motor disabilities may have trouble when links are close together, like in a single-spaced list. They need large enough targets with space in between to avoid errors.
How Do I Make Links Accessible?
- Don’t just paste a URL; use plain language as the link text.
- Briefly describe the destination or the action that will take place.
- Indicate if the link will open in a different application or a new tab.
- Avoid unnecessary words. Instead of “Click here to visit Inside PDM,” just say “Visit Inside PDM.”
- For lists of links, increase the line spacing.
- Make sure the destination itself is accessible! Videos should have captions, audio should have a transcript, etc.
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