Link text
This page is for editors who write links and designers who build lists and teasers. Screen reader users often list all links of a page and choose from that list, so "click here" and "read more" twenty times are useless to them. WCAG 2.2 covers this under 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/).
Contents
- Rules for editors
- Links to documents
- Links that open a new window
- Rules for designers
- Keeping links working
- Related pages
Rules for editors
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| To apply, click here. | Apply for a parking permit (the whole phrase is the link) |
| More information | Opening hours of the citizens' office |
| https://www.example.gov/services/permits/parking | Parking permits |
| Download | Annual report 2025 (PDF, 2 MB) |
- Put the words that say where the link leads into the link.
- Make the same text lead to the same place on one page.
- Do not link whole sentences; link the key words.
Links to documents
Say the format and size in the link text: "Budget plan (PDF, 1.2 MB)". People on slow connections and screen reader users then know what will happen. Prefer a web page to a document where you can (see "Documents and PDFs").
Links that open a new window
The rich text link has a target option; the standard design writes it as the target attribute
(design/standard/templates/content/datatype/view/ezxmltags/link.tpl). Opening a new window disorients many users.
Use it rarely, and when you do, say so in the text: "Map of the district (opens in a new window)". Exponential's own
help pages follow the same rule and add a note to links that open a new window
(Help system: Languages and accessibility).
Rules for designers
- Teaser lists: make the title the link, not a separate "read more"; if a "read more" is needed, give it hidden text
with the title (a visually hidden class, as admin4 does with
.a4-sr-only). - Links must look like links (not by color alone) and have a visible focus style.
- Icon-only links need an accessible name.
Keeping links working
- Setup > Link management (
/url/list) lists every external address published content links to, with its state (valid, invalid, never checked) and the objects that use it. - The link check (
linkcheck.php, cronjob partinfrequent) tests them; its settings are incronjob.ini [linkCheckSettings](Links, URL aliases, wildcards). - Broken relations (
/contentcheck/brokenrelations/<node id>) finds content that links to or embeds removed, hidden or unpublished content (The content checks).
Related pages
- Accessible content for editors
- Link and content checks
- Editing content
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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