QA finding
Link text that says nothing, runs too long or names the same page two ways
QA Warning Severity: Low
Part of the audit Usability rules. Finding id: qa.linkTextUsability.
What it costs you
Visitors cannot tell from the link where it leads.
What to do
Write link text that names the target. Use one name for each page in every menu.
What it checks
- Vague link text like click here
- Link text too long or too short
- Menu names differ between pages
How to fix it
Use one label per page in every menu
- Open the example page and compare the header, footer and other menus.
- Choose one name for the page and use it in each of them.
- If a template_id is given, the label comes from that template: change it there.
How to check: Crawl the site again. The page has one label in the menus.
Rewrite the link text
- Open the example page and find the link.
- Replace the text with the name of the target, for example 'Read the sizing guide' and not 'Read more'.
- If the short text has to stay in the design, make the heading above it part of the link or add the target's name as text that only screen readers get.
- If a template_id is given, the text comes from that template: change it there.
How to check: Recheck the example page: the link text is no longer listed.
Thresholds
| Name | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
max_link_text_length | 120 | Link texts longer than this many characters are returned. No guideline gives a number; this is a starting value. |