27 Accessible Hyperlinks in Pressbooks

Creating accessible hyperlinks will improve the experience for all users who interact with your content , but are particularly necessary for those using certain assistive technologies (e.g. screen readers).

There are three methods to create an accessible hyperlink in Pressbooks:

  • Highlight the text you would like to hyperlink, select the Insert/Edit link button in the Visual editor, and paste the URL into the field that appears.
  • Highlight the text you would like to hyperlink, press CTRL or CMND + K in the Visual editor, and paste the URL into the field that appears.
  • Add an <a href=”URL”> and </a> tag in the Text editor around the text you would like to link.

Accessible Pressbook Links

Best Practice for Using Lists in Pressbooks

  • Linked text should be descriptive, or the user should be able to perceive the purpose of the link based on the text that has been hyperlinked.
  • Linked text should be unique. Creators should avoid using different URLs for the same linked text. This is commonly seen with “Learn More” or “Click Here” links on pages.
  • Links should not be left unformatted, or “naked.” These links can be difficult to read due to their length and can be read character by character by some assistive technologies.
    • An exception for this recommendation are when emails are used on a page. It is best-practice to include the full email and use mailto:email@company.com for the URL.
  • If a link directs users to an external site, add target=”_blank” to the HTML code (Text editor) so that links open in a new tab in their browser.

Poorly Formatted Example

https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/accessibledigitalcontenttraining/chapter/accessible-word-documents/

Properly Formatted Example

Visit our tutorial on how to create accessible Microsoft Word Documents.

Email Example

Questions about this training? Email Jessica at blackwja@mcmaster.ca.

License

Accessible Digital Content Training Copyright © by Jessica Blackwood and Kate Brown. All Rights Reserved.

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