One of the most frequently misunderstood requirements within the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is Success Criterion 2.4.4, “Link Purpose (In Context).
Unsurprisingly, it’s also one of the most frequent WCAG failures — and since it’s frequently cited in web accessibility lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it’s well worth a review.
Here’s the full requirement:
The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context, except where the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general.
Content creators often get confused by the language of this criterion (and for good reason; while it has a clear goal, it uses fairly technical language). Here’s everything you need to know.
Meeting WCAG's "Link Purpose" criterion improves experiences for assistive technology users
To get started, we need to understand how WCAG 2.4.4 actually benefits users with disabilities.
Hyperlinks are important content. Many people scan content right away to look for links, and for people who use assistive technologies (AT), links can be especially useful. People who use screen readers (software that converts text to audio or braille) may navigate pages by jumping between links — that cuts down on the time they spend reading or listening to the page.
If the text of the link doesn’t provide enough information, the user may need to take extra steps to determine the context of the link. Needless to say, that isn’t a great experience.
Imagine a blog post that discusses the benefits of a certain type of medication. The post contains several links:
- A link to the medication’s official website.
- A link to a scientific study about the medication’s side effects.
- A link to a page about alternative medications.
If all of these links use the same link text (for example, “click here"), a screen reader user will have no idea where each link leads. This would be time consuming and frustrating, and it would be a clear WCAG violation.
Related: “Click Here" Isn’t Enough Context for Hyperlinks
To meet WCAG requirements, link text must provide enough context for the reader
Good hyperlink text should provide all of the information that the user needs to decide whether they want to click on the link. However, it’s acceptable to use the content immediately around the hyperlink to provide additional context.
The general rule is that if link text is ambiguous, the enclosing sentence should provide sufficient context. For example, let’s say that we write something like this, with the bolded word acting as link text:
“According to research, about 25% of U.S. adults live with a disability.”
We could argue that this isn’t the best practice, since a screen reader user would need to read the entire sentence in order to understand the context of the word “research.” A better option would be to use the entire statistic (“25% of U.S. adults live with a disability") as the link text.
But we wouldn’t classify the example as a WCAG failure, per se — the reader can still understand what will happen when they activate the link.
Examples of Bad Link Text
Link text only fails WCAG 2.4.4 when the surrounding text does not provide enough info to explain what the link does. For example:
“We want to earn your business. Please click here.”
Does that link lead to a contact form? A purchasing page? A newsletter signup? We have absolutely no idea, and neither does the user.
Likewise, this would probably fail WCAG 2.4.4 by most reasonable measures:
“Buy the product now. Click here.”
While the first sentence provides the context that the reader needs, it’s a separate sentence — and screen reader users who are scanning the content may not be immediately aware of it.
Related: How Redundant Links Impact Accessibility
Remember, WCAG conformance is important, but it's not the end goal of accessible design
ADA compliance is great, but as a content creator, you want to provide every user with the best possible experience. Get into the habit of choosing useful link text that gives people all of the information that they need — wherever possible, use the exact title of the linked webpage.
For certain types of content, you might also consider advanced techniques; some websites provide controls that allow users to change the link text to include more context, and PDFs may include link annotations that provide additional info for readers.
To discuss specific web accessibility issues in detail, send us a message to connect with an expert.
