Creating Accessible Hyperlinks

This article introduces students and employees to the core accessibility skill: Creating accessible and descriptive hyperlinks.  

What and Why Accessible Hyperlinks?  

Hyperlink text (also called anchor text) is the underlined text that is clickable and leads to a destination.  

Accessible hyperlinks (anchor text) should always be descriptive (explain where the link will take you) and unique (each link will have a different name).  

By creating hyperlinks with accessibility in mind, all users will have an easier time finding links and will know where each link will take them before they click. This gives each user more control over what they want to spend their time on and avoids having to open every link to see what it's about.  

Note: It is best practice to avoid using underline in digital materials, unless it is an underline that is created with a hyperlink. Instead use bold or another way to emphasize an idea in digital space. Underlining digital content is confusing because sighted users will select the underline thinking it is a link. 

How to Create Accessible Hyperlinks 

• Create a hyperlink text that is a label or description of where the link will take you.  

• Do not list the URL (typically numbers and letters, and oftentimes long) where the link is going.  

• Avoid "click here" or "learn more" links.  

• People using a screen reader read off all the hyperlinks on a page. If you have a page filled with several “click here” links, that is inefficient and can be confusing to know where each link will take you.  

• This can also make it hard for sighted users to keep track of which links they have already opened if they are all labeled the same. 

• A link or button should make sense when read alone, outside the context of the page.  

• People using assistive technologies often browse by link or button text alone. If links or buttons say things like “Click here,” “Read more,” or “Edit, " it’s unclear where they lead or what action they trigger. This lack of context creates barriers to understanding and navigation. 

Best Practices for Accessible Links 

• Be descriptive and specific  

• Avoid vague terms like “Click here” 

• Ensure link text is unique on the page 

Accessible Link Examples: Do, Avoid, and Why? 

The following examples provide additional examples of what to do (column 1), what to avoid (column 2), and a review of why (column 3).

Table: Do's and Don'ts with Accessibles Links

Exception: Occasionally Spelling Out the URL is Okay 

On occasion, it will make sense to list a URL that is not necessarily descriptive.  

For example, with email addresses, you want the link to be the email address and the link location to be mailto:EMAIL-ADDRESS. In that case, you may prefer to list as  example@stthomas.edu vs Example Email.  

Also, if you have both paper and digital content, you may include both the accessible link and the written URL so the paper version also communicates the link to sighted users.  

For Further Resources on Accessible Links 

• Canvas: Validate Links in Content - Interpreting Your Results 

• Using the Panorama Remediation Engine – YuJa Help Center 

• We also invite you to enroll in the Digital Accessibility Basics Badge site to learn more about color contrast and other digital accessibility skills.