The purpose of every link must be clear from its link text, or its link text plus associated content if assistive technologies recognize the association. This ensures that screen reader users can understand the purpose of links without reading nearby content, and that speech recognition users can target links accurately using voice commands.
Accessibility Requirements for 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (A)
- Link text clearly indicates the purpose of the link;
- Multiple links that point to the same destination have the same link text;
- Links have accessible names.
Common mistakes for 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (A)
- A link has text that does not indicate its purpose;
- A link points to the same destination as another link, but uses different link text;
- A link points to a unique destination, but uses the same text as other links;
- A link has text that depends on nearby content to be understood, but that content is not automatically identified by assistive technologies;
- A link uses a CSS background image, and has no visible accessible name.
Techniques for 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (A)
HTML Technique
- H33: Supplementing link text with the title attribute
- H77: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with its enclosing list item
- H78: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with its enclosing paragraph
- H79: Identifying the purpose of a link in a data table using the link text combined with its enclosing table cell and associated table header cells
- H81: Identifying the purpose of a link in a nested list using link text combined with the parent list item under which the list is nested
- H2: Combining adjacent image and text links for the same resource
Your site doesn’t include support for the Accordion Item block. You can try installing the block, convert it to a Custom HTML block, or remove it entirely.
Common Failures for 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (A)
The following are common mistakes that are considered failures of Success Criterion 2.4.4 by the WCAG Working Group.
- F63: Failure of Success Criterion 2.4.4 due to providing link context only in content that is not related to the link
- F89: Failure of Success Criteria 2.4.4, 2.4.9 and 4.1.2 due to not providing an accessible name for an image which is the only content in a link
FAQs for 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (A)
Few tips for Link purpose (in context)
It is the most accessible solution and the best for your users. There is always a way to make your link accessible using link text alone.
At Level AAA, Link Purpose (Link Only) requires you to make links accessible using only the link text.
Where you link to another page on your website, it’s good practice to use the page title you set in Page titled as the link text.
Objective or purpose of Link purpose ( in context)
Make sure that for each link on your website:
The purpose of the link is clear from the link text; or
The purpose of the link is clear from the surrounding content, meaning the same sentence, paragraph or cell in a table; or
If the link is an image, the alt text of the image makes the link purpose clear; and
Links with the same destination have the same description (but links don’t share a description if they point to different places).
What are exceptions for this guideline?
1.You don’t need to make the link purpose clear if the purpose is ambiguous to all your users.
2. It’s best to avoid ambiguous links as users should always know where they are going. Although, there are times when you might want to spring a fun surprise on everyone.
What is the purpose of link 1?
Link 1 is a point-to-point, duplex, non-encrypted, digital NATO Tactical Data Link (TDL) Standard for the automatic exchange of Track and Strobe data, combined with link and data management messages between ground based ASACS-elements
Related to Link purpose (in context) (A)
1.1.1 Non-Text Content
2.4.2 Page Titled