Links

Overview

This article helps students, faculty, and staff understand the meaning, purpose, and best practices of links to help meet digital accessibility standards in their content. It provides tips and an example. Always refer to ADA digital accessibility standards for the most up-to-date compliance requirements. 

What Are Links?

Links are clickable elements in documents or websites that lead to another resource. Screen reader users often navigate by jumping from link to link, so they may only hear the link text without surrounding context. Clear, descriptive links improve navigation for everyone. 

Best Practices

Source: Section508.gov – Descriptive Links and Hypertext 

  • Make link text meaningful and indicate the purpose or destination.  
  • Avoid vague phrases like “click here” or “read more.” 
  • Link text should make sense even when read out of context. 
  • Use a descriptive phrase instead of a long URL.  
  • Make links visually distinct from regular text, typically underlined and in a different color. 
  • Example: Explore digital accessibility best practices

Note:  If you’re sharing a link, whether in a web page, course, email, or document, it must lead to accessible content. Always review the linked content before sharing. If the destination isn’t accessible, don’t link to it. This includes but is not limited to: 

  • Web pages 
  • Documents 
  • Videos 
  • External tools or forms 

Still Need Help?

Creative Production offers help with document formatting, design, and redesign if needed. Please note, Creative Production cannot ensure accessibility for content created by other users. They may need to re-create a document to ensure accessibly, if you choose to use their services. Costs apply. Submit a ticket to request Creative Production services 

IT Solutions primarily supports digital accessibility for academic and course-related materials including document accessibility, captioning and transcription services. Support for other content may be available if time allows, with costs applying to non-course materials. Submit a ticket to request IT Solutions services 

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