The text in a link needs to describe what the user will encounter when they follow said link.
By using proper descriptive text for your link, you will:
- Help people with a motion impairment by letting them skip links that they are not interested in, avoiding the keystrokes needed to visit the referenced content and then returning to the current content.
- Aid people with cognitive limitations from becoming disoriented by multiple means of navigation to and from content they are not interested in.
- Allow people with visual disabilities to determine the purpose of a link.
Examples of Bad Links
The following should never be used, as they do not provide enough context for the user.
- The URL of the destination written out:
- The Housing Options Page https://www.monmouth.edu/reslife/housing-options/
- Generic text such as but not limited to:
- Read More
- Learn More
- Click Here
- Here
Examples of Effective Link Text
- Schedule an Appointment
- Call Admission (Links to a telephone number)
- Email Admission (Links to an email address)
- Email fyadvisor@monmouth.edu to schedule an appointment
- Monmouth offers a range of housing options for students, including suite-style buildings and traditional corridor-style residence halls for first-year students, and apartment-style living for upper-class students.
- Monmouth University’s accessible guidelines website has a guide on how to write alternative text for images