Fixes by subject · 60 techniques
How to Fix Links and Navigation
Screen reader users pull up a list of every link on the page. Whatever still makes sense in that list is what your link text is worth.
Link text gets read out of context all the time, because listing every link is one of the main ways screen reader users get around. Out of that list, "click here" carries nothing, however clear it looked in the sentence around it. What the Level AA rule asks for is narrower than most people assume, though. It is met by the link text alone or by the link text together with its programmatically determined context, so eleven Read more links, each one inside its own card, do conform. Rewriting them is a real improvement rather than a compliance job. The techniques here cover writing link text that says where it goes, and supplying that context where the text alone cannot carry it. They also cover keeping navigation consistent across pages, offering more than one route to a page, and warning people before a link opens a new window.
All 60 techniques
They run in technique order, and each one carries a tag. Sufficient techniques satisfy a rule. Advisory ones help without being required. Failures document a specific way of getting it wrong. None of them is mandatory, because W3C publishes techniques as documented ways of meeting a criterion rather than the only ways, so your own approach conforms as long as it meets the criterion.
- H30Sufficient1.1.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.9Write link text that says where the link goes
- F55Failure2.1.1, 2.4.7, 2.4.13, 3.2.1Do not use script to throw focus away
- H2Sufficient1.1.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.9Combine adjacent image and text links into one
- H24Sufficient1.1.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.9Add alt text to every image map area
- H32Sufficient3.2.2Give every form a real submit button
- H33Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Supplement vague link text with a title attribute
- H77Sufficient2.4.4Give list links context from their list item
- H78Sufficient2.4.4Give links context from their enclosing paragraph
- H79Sufficient2.4.4Give table links context from cells and headers
- H80Advisory2.4.4Give links context from the heading above them
- H81Sufficient2.4.4Give nested list links context from parent items
- H83Sufficient3.2.5Warn users when links open new windows
- H84Sufficient3.2.2Pair select menus with a real action button
- H89Advisory3.3.5Add context-sensitive help to form fields
- H99Advisory2.4.5Let users jump between pages of content
- ARIA7Sufficient2.4.4Build clear link names from nearby headings
- ARIA8Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Fix vague link text with aria-label
- ARIA26Sufficient1.3.1, 2.4.8Mark the current page with aria-current
- C7Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Add hidden text to clarify short links
- SCR19Sufficient3.2.2, 3.2.5Never change context when a select changes
- SCR24Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.6, 2.4.9, 3.2.5Open new windows only when the user asks
- SCR30Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Let users swap in self-explanatory link text
- F19FailureDo not hide the accessible version of a page
- F22Failure3.2.5Do not open windows the user never requested
- F31Failure3.2.4Do not label the same function differently
- F36Failure3.2.2Do not auto-submit when the last field changes
- F37Failure3.2.2Do not launch windows from a checkbox or select
- F52Failure3.2.5Do not spawn new windows on page load
- F63Failure2.4.4Do not strand link context away from the link
- F66Failure3.2.3Do not reorder navigation links between pages
- F84Failure2.4.9Stop writing "click here" and "read more" links
- F89Failure2.4.4, 2.4.9, 4.1.2Do not leave image-only links without a name
- G13Sufficient3.2.2, 3.3.2Say what a control will do before it does it
- G53Sufficient2.4.4Let the sentence around a link explain it
- G61Sufficient3.2.3Keep repeated components in the same order
- G63Sufficient2.4.5, 2.4.8Offer a site map as another route
- G64Sufficient2.4.5Provide a table of contents for long documents
- G65Sufficient2.4.8Show a breadcrumb trail on deep pages
- G71Sufficient3.3.5Put a help link on every page
- G80Sufficient3.2.2Use a submit button, not automatic submission
- G91Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Write link text that states its purpose
- G107Sufficient3.2.1Trigger context changes on activation, not focus
- G125Sufficient2.4.5Link related pages so content is findable
- G126Sufficient2.4.5Provide a list of links to every page
- G127Sufficient2.4.2, 2.4.8Show each page's place in its collection
- G128Sufficient2.4.8Show current location inside navigation bars
- G161Sufficient2.4.5Add a site-wide search function
- G185Sufficient2.4.5Link every site page from the home page
- G189Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Offer a switch to self-describing link text
- G193Sufficient3.3.5, 4.1.3Provide an accessible help assistant on the page
- G197Sufficient3.2.4Label identical functions identically everywhere
- G200Advisory3.2.5Stop opening new tabs without cause
- G201Advisory2.4.4, 2.4.6, 2.4.9, 3.2.5Warn users before opening a new window
- G220Sufficient3.2.6Keep the contact link in one consistent place
- PDF2Advisory2.4.5Add bookmarks so long PDFs are navigable
- PDF11Sufficient1.3.1, 2.1.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.9Tag PDF links so they are announced
- PDF13Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Replace raw URLs in PDFs with descriptive text
- PDF14Advisory2.4.8, 3.2.3Add running headers and footers to long PDFs
- PDF15Sufficient3.2.2Give PDF forms an explicit submit button
- PDF17Sufficient1.3.1, 2.4.8, 3.2.3Make PDF page numbers match the printed pages
More on Links and navigation
The other 13 subjects
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