Tip #10: The How – Links
Tip #10: The How – Links
Hello Team,
Welcome back to our Accessibility Tips & Tricks series!
This week, we continue our hands-on work with the NCADEMI Accessibility Basics by focusing on Links, a small but powerful change that greatly improves digital accessibility and clarity for all users.
Links help users navigate digital content, but how links are written makes a big difference. Screen reader users often navigate by pulling up a list of links on a page. If every link says “click here” or “read more,” there’s no context to understand where each link goes.
Clear, descriptive links help users:
understand content out of context
navigate quickly and efficiently
use screen readers effectively
scan documents and webpages
build trust in the content they’re accessing
Learn more from NCADEMI’s guidance on Links.
Accessible links clearly describe the destination or purpose of the link.
That means:
Avoid vague phrases like “click here,” “here,” or “learn more”
Use meaningful text that explains what the link leads to
Keep link text concise but descriptive
Examples:
Not accessible: Click here for the accessibility guide.
Better: Read the Digital Accessibility Guide.
Best (most clear): Read the ESU 10 Digital Accessibility Guide (PDF).
A “naked link” is when a full URL is pasted directly into a document or email, like this:
https://www.example.com/resources/accessibility-guide
While this works visually, it can be confusing or inefficient for screen reader users and harder for everyone to scan.
Best practice:
Avoid naked links whenever possible
Turn the URL into descriptive link text
Instead of: https://ncademi.org/create/basics/links/ -- use: NCADEMI guidance on accessible links
When might a naked link be acceptable?
In plain-text environments where hyperlinks aren’t supported
When users specifically need to see or copy the full URL
When naked links are necessary, place them on their own line and introduce them with context.
Watch for these common issues:
Multiple links labeled “click here”
Long URLs pasted directly into text
Links that rely on surrounding text for meaning
Link text that doesn’t match the destination
Accessible link text should make sense on its own.
Links show up everywhere we work:
Google Docs and Microsoft Word
Google Slides and PowerPoint
Emails and newsletters
Websites and learning platforms
Improving link text in any of these places supports stronger digital accessibility.
Open a document, email, or webpage you recently shared.
Find any vague or naked links.
Rewrite the link text to clearly describe the destination.
Make sure the link still reads naturally in the sentence.
Bring questions or examples to office hours if you’d like feedback.
Next week, we’ll explore Lists and how proper list formatting improves structure, clarity, and digital accessibility.
Thank you for continuing to make digital accessibility a natural part of your everyday work.
ESU 10 Accessibility Implementation and Planning Team