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Welcome to our January issue of the Accessibility Minute Newsletter! This newsletter is produced by the CU Boulder Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) and covers one accessibility skill or topic per month. Please visit the DAO website to access past newsletters. As always, thank you for taking a minute (or two) to read.

Meaningful Link Text

Continuing with our “back to basics” series, this month’s newsletter will discuss meaningful link text. Link text is text that’s tied to a hyperlink/URL. Meaningful link text accurately describes where a link will take a user when selected or opened.

Why is Meaningful Link Text Important?

Link text is accessible when it clearly describes the link destination. Assistive technology users often skip from link to link (bypassing static text) to navigate quickly through a document or webpage. When doing so, assistive technologies announce link text out of context (of a document or webpage), meaning users only hear the link text. Without meaningful and descriptive link text, a screen reader user, for example, may hear a list of link text that reads, “click here, click here, read more, more information,” and so on. If you heard or read that list of link text, you probably wouldn't know where those links would take you. So, let’s talk about ways we can ensure we create accessible link text for all end users.

How to Write Meaningful and Accessible Link Text

Describe the Destination

Write link text that you can understand if you read it on its own without any context. Imagine you have two options to choose from: “ to visit the beach” and “ to visit the swamp.” Now imagine all of the surrounding context is removed and you’re left with “click here” and “click here.” Assuming we’d all prefer a beach vacation, how would we know which option to choose to get you to the beach? If we used meaningful link text instead, such as “” and “ ,” we’d know exactly which option to select to reach our desired destination!

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Avoid Writing Out Full URLs

As mentioned, link text should clearly describe the destination. As you can imagine, copying and pasting a full URL is not descriptive of the link destination and can be confusing and difficult to understand, especially those using screen readers.

• Bad example:/digital-accessibility/captioning/captioning-social-media
• Good example:DAO's captioning on social media guidance

An exception to this rule is if the URL is very short or users are expected to memorize the exact URL, such as Canvas.Colorado.EDU or an email address. Instead of writing undescriptive link text such as “email us,” write out and link to the email address.

Use Unique Link Text

Avoid using the same link text for links that lead to different destinations. For example, rather than writing “we have a guide for Word accessibility and a guide for PowerPoint accessibility,” you could write “we have a Word accessibility guide and a PowerPoint accessibility guide.”

If you do have multiple links leading to the same destination, this is when you should use the same link text to ensure consistency.

Identify the Destination Type

We often assume links will open a new webpage. If you’re linking to something other than another webpage, such as a file or video, include that information directly in your link text. This lets users know what to expect when they open the link and prevents unexpected downloads.

Examples:

• Schedule a training consultation (creates email)
• Watch Elle’s explanation of
• Review the

Final Thoughts

Writing meaningful link text is a simple but powerful way to make your content more accessible and user-friendly. By clearly describing destinations, avoiding vague phrases and long URLs, using unique and consistent wording, and noting when links open files or videos, you help all users navigate with confidence.