- Success Criterion 2.4.4
- Conformance level A
Link Name So Long It Buries the Link’s Actual Purpose
2.4.4 — Link Purpose (In Context)
Scenario
Setting
A social media platform's settings menu
What’s wrong
Excessively verbose link names — an entire card's text concatenated into a single link announcement, burying the purpose.
Example
A social media platform's settings menu is a good example: excessively verbose link names — an entire card's text concatenated into a single link announcement, burying the purpose.
Why it matters
People who browse by links list or voice commands and need unambiguous link purposes. The practical effect on a social media platform's settings menu: they can't navigate the content by its real structure.
How to test
Read the link's full accessible name aloud: if an entire card's text has been concatenated into one link name, burying the actual purpose in verbosity, it fails.
How to fix
The link's purpose must be clear from its accessible name (or name plus immediate programmatic context), and unique among links going to different destinations.
Outcome
That one change on a social media platform's settings menu means they navigate the content in a sensible order.
Who is affected
People who browse by links list or voice commands and need unambiguous link purposes.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Link’s Purpose Explained Only in Unrelated Page Text
- Image-Only Link or Button With No Accessible Name
- Repeated ‘Click Here’ Links With No Way to Tell Them Apart
- Multiple ‘Download’ Links With No File Name or Type Given
- Icon-Only Link With No Accessible Name at All
- Link Text That’s Just a Long, Meaningless Tracking URL