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Web Accessibility

Quick tips that everyone can use to make their websites and pages more accessible.

Hyperlinks

Assistive technologies allow users to navigate a document or webpage by just the hyperlinks found on the page. Screen readers can read a list of all of the links in a particular section of a webpage. Links like "click here" or "more" have no context or meaning in this scenario. Likewise, if you use a URL as a link, the screen reader will read the full URL, including all of the gibberish like www, index.php, etc. This makes it difficult to hear what the link is actually for.

DO: DON'T:
  • Use short, descriptive phrases as hyperlinks.
  • Try to make links more than one word - they're easier to click on.
  • For links to documents, include the type of document in parentheses (pdf). This helps convey to the reader that clicking the link will open a new program or cause them to leave their browser window.
  • Don't use vague, directional text like "click here."
  • Avoid copying and pasting URLs from your browser, or writing out a full URL like https://www.wm.edu. If the URL is important, like advertising for a website, write out the URL as simply as possible to minimize a screen reader having to read unnecessary characters, such as "www.wm.edu".

Examples

 Do  Don't

Download our annual report (pdf)

 Click here for our annual report.
Visit the Nielsen Norman website on writing hyperlinks​ Visit https://www.nngroup.com/​
articles/writing-links/
Make sure your emphasized text doesn’t look like a link Make sure your emphasized text doesn’t look like a link

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