Stanford Online Accessibility Program

Hyperlinks

One of the greatest powers of the Internet is the ability to cross-link related documents, allowing the reader to explore and learn in non-linear fashion. Content authors must remember, however, to clearly indicate the destination of hyperlinks, both for internal navigation, but also (and perhaps more importantly) for external links. Clearly indicating the destination of your hyperlink allows all users to decide if they wish to pursue the link now, in the future, or not at all. It also aids readers who choose to print out individual web pages for later use.

Best Practice: All hyperlinks should avoid vague link text such as "Click Here" or "More..."; also avoid language that requires spatial or visual references.

Authors must remember that not all users will experience their web pages the same way that the author will. Instructing readers to click on a link "on the right" for example does not take into consideration the fact that visually impaired users do not "see" left or right. The same holds true for references to colours or shapes (i.e. "click on the round button," or "click on the green text").

Best Practice: All hyperlinks to internal web pages should include the name (title) of the linked document as part of the screen text.

Links to other documents within your web site should provide, as part of the linked text, the title of the referred page. This allows readers to determine whether they wish to follow the link or not. For example: [example here]

Best Practice: All hyperlinks should be clearly differentiated from body text.

Un-styled HTML text will place a line under hyperlinked text to indicate to the end user that there is a hyperlink available. While Cascading Style sheets allow us greater sophistication in the visual rendering of screen content, it is highly recommended to continue to underline hyperlink text in some fashion, as studies show this is still the most expected display of links within a web document.

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