Make Link Purpose Clear From Link Text Alone

This AAA criterion is stricter than the Level A “Link Purpose (In Context)” (2.4.4). It requires that the link text itself is sufficient to understand the link’s purpose, without needing to examine the surrounding sentence, paragraph, list item, or table cell. This provides the clearest possible information about link destinations, benefiting users who scan links or use assistive technology to list links out of context.

Write link text that is fully descriptive on its own. Instead of relying on context, make the link text itself meaningful.

• Avoid “Click Here,” “Read More,” “Learn More,” “More,” “Link,” etc., entirely.
• Instead of: “Read more about our Q3 results.” -> Link text: “Read more”
• Use: Link text: “Read more about our Q3 results” or “Q3 Financial Results (PDF)” Use aria-label or aria-labelledby only if absolutely necessary for visual design constraints, ensuring the accessible name is fully descriptive. Descriptive visible text is strongly preferred for AAA.