Link text should be unique within a page, should be meaningful when read out of context, and should help users to know something about their destination if they click on it. When adding links to web pages, digital documents, or online courses, there are best practices for ensuring those links are accessible to users with disabilities.
Meaningful Link Text
Link text should be unique within a page, should be meaningful when read out of context, and should help users to know something about their destination if they click on it. Consider the various ways users interact with links:
- Screen reader users sometimes navigate web pages and documents using the tab key, in which case they jump between links, buttons, and form fields. When they land on a link, their screen reader announces “link” and reads the link text. This should be sufficient information for users to form a reasonable expectation of what will happen if they follow the link.
- Screen reader users can generate a list of links and navigate them in their order on the page, or sort them alphabetically (see screenshot below). Redundant or ambiguous link text such as “Click here” or “Read more” is meaningless in this context.
- Users of voice input technology can select a link with a voice command like “click” followed by the link text. Therefore, it is also helpful to use unique link text that is short and easy to say.
Try to always use link text that meets the criteria explained above. For example, consider the following sentence, where the link text “click here” does not meet the criteria:
For more information about UMSL Athletics, click here.
A better approach would be to rephrase the sentence so that “UMSL Athletics” is the link text:
For more information, see UMSL Athletics.
Other Considerations When Using Links
URLs should generally be avoided as link text. They are difficult for screen reader users to understand and difficult for voice input users to express.
Short URLs can sometimes be an exception. For example, “umsl.edu” is easy to understand and easy to say, but if you wanted to provide a longer, more specific link you'd run into difficulties
For example, "https://www.umsl.edu/recd/ecd/community-engagement/index.html" is a lot harder to say and understand via screen reader, compared to saying "To learn more about how we make a difference in the community, visit UMSL Community Engagement.
If linking to a file, do not only link the file type. For example, in a list of publications, don't link solely the 'pdf' on each item. You should instead include the file type extension in the descriptive text so that users know what to expect when opening the file, in this case a pdf.
Incorrect
Triton, L. T., Sobolik, K., & The UMSL Geese. (2025). Navigating the Quad: A Study of UMSL Undergrads and the Geese Who Own Their Sidewalks. Journal of Triton Pride, 20(1), 57-63. (pdf)
Correct
Triton, L. T., Sobolik, K., & The UMSL Geese. (2025). Navigating the Quad: A Study of UMSL Undergrads and the Geese Who Own Their Sidewalks. Journal of Triton Pride, 20(1), 57-63. (pdf)
Techniques for Microsoft Office
To add links in Microsoft Office, select the text or picture that you want to display as a hyperlink. Press Ctrl+K in Windows, or Cmd+K in Mac OS. You can also right-click the text or picture and select “Hyperlink” in the shortcut menu. In the Insert Hyperlink dialog, type or paste your link in the Address field.
As described at the top of this page, be sure the link text conforms to best practices for accessibility. If the link is created from a picture, the picture’s alt text should follow the same rules as link text. (For additional information about alt text, see the Images in Documents page).
Techniques for PDF
If a PDF document was properly exported from an accessible version of an authoring application, the links in the document should already be active and accessible. Verification of links can be accomplished by running the Accessibility Checker built into Acrobat Pro.
Acrobat provides several ways to create active links for URLs in a PDF document including using the automated tools for remediation. To create links in a PDF document using Adobe Acrobat Pro, follow these steps:
- Highlight the text
- Right click and select “Create Link…” from the context menu
- In the Create Link dialog box, select either ” Go to a page view” if you are linking within the document, or ” Open a web page” if you are linking a URL, then follow the prompts to complete the task.
