WebAIR

(if yes) Do you clarify the purpose of each link elsewhere? (LNK02)

Why is this important?

If the purpose of a link cannot be described in the link text alone, then it is important to clarify its purpose elsewhere. There are various ways to do this. For example, the "title" attribute of the link can be used to provide additional information (although different assistive technologies handle this in different ways). A more reliable approach is to provide information in the text immediately surrounding the link. Headings, list titles and table headers can also provide additional information. You can also use WAI-ARIA attributes to point assistive technologies towards inpage descriptions of links. Essentially, provide enough information for users to understand what the link does and where it will take them.

How to fix the problem

Make sure there is enough information about each link that users feel informed about its purpose and destination. Use the "title" attribute of the link (but do not rely on this approach). Make sure the text surrounding the link provides additional information. If this is not possible, or the link is not surrounding by any text, make sure that the nearest heading or list title or table header provide additional information. Use the "aria-describedby" attribute on a link to point it towards the ID of another element (on the same page) containing a more detailed explanation.

Example

// A link containing an additional title description and an 'aria-describedby' attribute
<a href="http://www.news.com" title="The latest news headlines" aria-describedby="more_info">News homepage</a>

<p id="more_info">The news homepage includes the latest headlines and links to all of our stories.</p>

Further Information

  1. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Accessibility/ARIA/ARIA_Techniques/Using_the_aria-describedby_attribute