Unit 1 · How the web works
Why “click here” is bad link text
Link text should say where the link goes. Many screen reader users jump through a list of a page’s links with nothing around them, and ten links called “click here” tell them nothing. Write “See the menu” instead.
The mix-up
What people often think
“"Click here" is fine link text.”
What the tutor says
Screen-reader users often hear a list of links with nothing around them, and "click here" says nothing. Use words like "See the menu".
How it works
Descriptive link text also helps everyone who skims, and it tells search engines what the target page is about.
Only the href is the address. The words between the tags are what people read, so keep them, and make them describe the destination rather than the action of clicking.
Side by side
To see our menu, <a href="menu.html">click here</a>.<a href="menu.html">See the menu</a>Close cousins of this mix-up
The tutor watches for these in the same lesson.
“The link text is part of the address and needs changing too.”
Only the href is the address. The words "See the menu" are what visitors read, so leave them in.
Practise it with a tutor watching
Reading a request
Read a request and its response line by line, and write links that work.
Free with an account. The first two units need no account.