Let’s talk about hyperlinks and descriptive text. What are descriptive hyperlinks? Descriptive hyperlinks are weblinks disguised as descriptive text where clicking on the link will take the user.

What is the importance of descriptive hyperlinks? This is especially important for users with screen readers. When using a screen reader, it would read every letter and dash of the URL and when you use descriptive text, it is easy for the user to navigate. Using descriptive hyperlinks also keeps your documents clean and easy to read.

You should avoid non-informative link phrases such as

  • click here
  • here
  • more
  • read more
  • link to [some link destination]
  • info

Instead, you can use descriptive hyperlink text such as

  • UMKC Online
  • Academic Policies
  • My WebEx Room
  • Canvas

Below are images which capture what hyperlinks look like before and after they are made accessible.

You can learn more about accessible hyperlinks on our UMKC Online Accessibility Webpage.