Ban "Click Here" From Your Vocabulary
Improve accessibility and usability of your e-learning and online writing by using clear link text rather than vague text like “click here.”
Take a look at the following list and see if you can determine which link would get you to the Wikipedia article on Universal Design for Learning:
Without clicking on every link, do you have any way of knowing which one leads to what you want? The text of your link matters.
Why Link Text Matters
Sighted readers often skim a page for links; screen reader users can use a list of links or skip from link to link for the same purpose. Unfortunately, this means that screen reader users can miss the context around the links. Therefore, your link text should still make sense on its own (or at least provide users with a clue as to the content).
What To Do
This is fortunately an easy way to improve your accessibility, requiring no technical expertise beyond creating links. Just link on text that means something and would tell you where the link goes even without the surrounding context. Avoid linking on the words “Click here” or “link.” This applies to blogs, wikis, and pretty much any other online content, not just formal e-learning. You’ve probably seen blogs say something like “I’ve talked about this before here, here, and here” with three different links all on the word “here.” That isn’t particularly helpful if you’re skimming through links with a screen reader.
Checking a box in your e-learning development tool for “Section 508 compliant” may or may not catch vague link text. Write more effectively to link on stronger words. Instead of “Click here to learn more,” use “Read more about Universal Design for Learning” or just “Universal Design for Learning.”
Standards
This addresses the following standards:
- WCAG 1.0 Guideline 13.1: Clearly identify the target of each link
- WCAG 2.0 Guideline 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In context) (“The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context, except where the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general.”)
Further Reading & Resources
- Links and Hypertext from WebAIM
- Writing Hyperlinks: Salient, Descriptive, Start with Keyword (This is focused on usability rather than accessibility, but improving usability helps all users.)
Great article. One question. Is it not important too to underline links (“Sighted readers often skim a page for links”). Thanks!
Great question! Underlining is still good for usability, but it’s not an absolute requirement. Even 10 years ago Jakob Nielsen (the usability guru) said that underlining isn’t always necessary, especially if the text is clearly a link. Over the last 10 years, I think users have gotten used to recognizing different colored text as a link, especially if that text is blue. Underlining is still a good idea though, especially if your color choice would be difficult for colorblind users to distinguish. (Yes, I know my current theme uses orange links with no underline. I probably should tweak it.)
Very refreshing post compared to most ID/e-learning blogs! It was short, to the point, focused on one topic, and easy to read! Well written!
Thanks! I’m certainly capable of rambling blog posts too, but this topic could be covered succinctly.