Click here… but where are you going?
As a Web Designer turned Information Architect I appreciate good usability, and accessibility. So coming across the ubiquitous ‘click here’ as much as I do does tend to get the heckles up! And think of people who rely on screen readers - hearing those two words time after time must be more than just a mild annoyance?
So, to this end, I thought some opinionated suggestion wouldn’t hurt!
It doesn’t take a particularly seismic shift in content authoring to contextualise link copy. Simply describing what will happen or where the user will end up is an easy habit to adopt. And when you consider that a well designed style sheet will quickly highlight a link at a glance, then why not take advantage with link text that is unique as well as useful. A page full of ‘click here’ does not inspire the reader.
And you don’t have to take my word for it, as Mr. Jakob Nielsen agrees in his Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005 (see section 2).
Further resources:
So, don’t click here, instead…
Find out more about how to use descriptive link text on www.universalusability.com and how this will also lead to Increased usability as shown on www.webcredible.co.uk
The same website also contains more information on Improving usability for screen reader users
I hope this has been useful? If you’ve any comments to add, please use the appropriately described links below..!
