Meaningful Link Text

Label your links with concise, unique and descriptive text:

  • Descriptive: indicates exactly what will happen when the link is clicked (and can be read out of context of the rest of the sentence)
  • Concise: no more than 5 words
  • Unique: no other link in the document has the same text

Why?

Users of assistive technology like screen readers can read a list of all the links on a page, but this separates the link text from its surrounding text. So instead of the user hearing a full sentence describing what a link leads to, they will hear only "here", "this article", "read more", etc. Those tell them nothing.

So describing what the link will lead to in the link text will help screen reader users. It will also help sighted users, since link text visually stands out on a page. They will see the link and instantly understand what it is for.

Examples

Correct:

To learn more about digital accessibility, visit the University of Michigan Accessibility website.

Incorrect:

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