Links are a great way to quickly direct students to external resources or other Canvas content. Accessible links have a meaningful text description that will become the active link to the website or other document. This week's goal is to read and watch about what is meant by the term "descriptive links" and why they are so important for usability.
To understand why descriptive links are important, it's first helpful to know how students who use screen-reading software interact with links. Screen-reading software will read aloud the entire contents of a webpage. Just as sighted users visually scan a page to locate certain areas or links, screen-reader users can scan a page by pressing the Tab key to move through page elements (including links). Tabbing through page elements often skips text in between. Another option screen-reader users have is to use a keyboard command to present an isolated list of any links on the page, enabling quick navigation. Here's a great video made by Liezl Madrona, tech trainer for the Chancellor's Office Accessibility Center, demonstrating what it sounds like when a screen-reader user uses the keyboard command to present a links list:
Link text must make sense out of context. Ambiguous labels like "Click here" or "Read more" can confuse the screen-reader user, as it is not clear where the link will take them once they click. Using a URL as the link text is usually not recommended, as URLs can be long, often contain special characters, and do not always accurately depict the website contents. Only use a URL if it is short and it's clear where the user will be taken (e.g. www.amazon.com).
Length is another consideration when writing descriptive link text. When a screen-reader encounters a link, it will automatically read the entire link text. Try and keep link text concise, while still maintaining clarity.
Click here for instructions on how to apply to DVC.
Learn more about the steps to make a Word doc accessible here and here.
Instructions for how to apply to DVC.
Learn more about adding styles to a Word doc and alternative text for images in Word
Syllabus (PDF), Syllabus (Word)
Check out this video which covers how to create a link from descriptive text in Canvas and Word.
