02 Links & Navigation

Use Contextual, Descriptive Link Text

Using contextual, descriptive link text is essential because it allows users with visual or cognitive disabilities to instantly understand a link's destination or purpose. It prevents frustration, improves navigation, and ensures compliance with modern accessibility standards like WCAG.

Links are one of the most important parts of any web page. But for users with screen readers, poor link text turns a helpful site into a confusing mess. Descriptive link text makes your site easier for everyone to navigate—and it’s required for accessibility compliance.

What Is Descriptive Link Text?

Descriptive link text tells people:

Where they’re going
What they’re clicking on
Why it matters

Good Link Text Is…

Clear: “Lunch Menu – March 2025”
Specific: “Download the 2024–2025 School Calendar (PDF)”
Contextual: "Learn more about Sherwood High School” (instead of just “Learn more”)
Unique: Avoid repeating the same “Click here” or “Learn more” on every line

Bad Link Text: What to Avoid

“Click here”
“Link”
“HERE”
Long, pasted URLs (like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)

These are meaningless to screen reader users. They don’t say what the link actually does.

Bonus Tip: Think Like a Screen Reader

Imagine hearing this out loud:
“Link: Learn More”
(About what?)
“Link: HERE”
(Where?)

Now try this:

“Link: Register for Kindergarten”
“Link: See Bus Routes for Your School”

Much better.

Final Rule: Links Should Make Sense Out of Context

If someone hears the link on its own (without the rest of the paragraph), they should still know where it leads.

Do It Right

Make the Link Text Itself Descriptive

Learn More About Our School System Calendar

Instead of:

https://www.smcps.org/calendar

Tip: In Finalsite and most editors, the text you highlight when adding a link becomes the link text. So choose your words wisely!

Buttons & Banners & QR Codes

People love buttons. And that’s okay—

But how you build them makes a big difference for accessibility.

Buttons should use descriptive text just like regular links. The text on the button images should be descriptive.

Good:

Register for Kindergarten
Download School Calendar

Avoid:

Click Here
Learn More

Good button text:

Bad button text:

Scripted Buttons AKA Stylized Buttons

These are hyperlinks that are modified by editing tools to look FANCY. As long as you use the right tools to build them, they will be accessible. This is the preferred method.

Google Site Example

Image-Based Buttons

For image-based buttons, banners, and QR codes, see Lesson 1.

Don’t Underline Regular Text

In modern digital accessibility, it is an established best practice to never use underlines for emphasis on non-clickable text. Underlines are an established visual indicator that text is a hyperlink. Using them for emphasis creates confusion, violates accessibility conventions, and frustrates users who try to click them but fail.

If you underline something that’s not a link, it confuses users—especially those using screen readers or keyboard navigation.

Use bold and/or italics instead (or both).

Reflection

Why is "Click Here" considered poor link text?

Why should links make sense out of context?

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