Let’s Link Accessibly 🔗 [Accessibility Skills Week Two]

[queenofcorgis]

We covered alt text in our first week's discussion, now let’s move on to our next skill: creating accessible link text. Don’t forget, those who participate will be entered to win one of ten free T-shirts.

Link text should be descriptive enough to convey the destination without relying on the surrounding text. Screen reader users often tab through links on a page to quickly find content without needing to listen to the full page. When link text is too generic like "Read more", the destination of the link is not conveyed.

Whether you’re linking to external documentation, referencing an article, or sharing a YouTube video, when you’re writing link text it is important to ensure screen readers can easily understand the destination of your link.

Challenge

In the comments section:

• Link to your GitHub profile
• Share a discussion or blog post that you find helpful or interesting

Tips

• Avoid using a URL as your link text; especially if it is long or complicated
• URLs may not be easily readable by humans or screen readers
• Keep linked phrases as short as possible, while still being meaningful out of context. This will save screen reader users time, as less will need to be spoken.
• Link at least one full word. Two words is better.
• A link that is only a letter or a symbol will be difficult to click on and will not provide context
• If you must add action prompts to your link, put them at the end. For example,
  • Bad example: "Link opens popup: contact us"
  • Good example: "Contact us (opens popup)"
• Do not add the word "link" to your text
• Try to ensure that each unique link on your webpage uses unique link text
• Keep in mind: If you used "read more" frequently, imagine how frustrating it would be for a screen reader user to hear "read more" spoken over and over again with no context
• Keep in mind: Never include empty links, using href=""

Resources

• Alt Text Decision Tree by W3
• Writing for Accessibility: Alt Text
• Article: Alt Text

Examples

Bad link text:

• Check out the documentation,https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/actions/managing-workflow-runs-and-deployments/managing-deployments/managing-environments-for-deployment#wait-timer, to learn how to manage your deployments.
• You can contact me by emailing queenofcommunity@email.com
• I am queenofcorgis.
• Check out the link to learn more.

Good link text:

• I'm queenofcorgis, check out my GitHub profile.
• Visit the GitHub Community in Discussions to learn more.

Give the challenge a try with a few different links using the tips and resources above.

*No Purchase Necessary. The prize draw is open to verified registered students of GitHub Education who are at least 13 years old. Game ends 5/15/25. For details, see Official Rules.

[Salgado2004]

Hello again! Another great initiative to enhance accessibility awareness! That's one concept that I never thought about (and I'm guilty for writing links with "read more"). Truly inspiring!

From now on, I will improve the links displayed in my GitHub profile.

Another useful resource that I recommend reading, is this article celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day

[queenofcorgis]

@Salgado2004 we've all have to start somewhere this is a skill just like learning to code 😃 , great blog share!

[Salgado2004]

Thank you 😊 you're right! It's a skill we must keep practicing!

[Juleipssy]

Hello everyone! I hope you're doing well

You can check out my GitHub profile to see some of my projects and contributions.

I would like to share this GitHub blog post about accessible design . I found it very interesting, as it covers the process of making design more accessible and helped me understand the importance of creating inclusive experiences for all users.

[queenofcorgis]

@Juleipssy I hope you're enjoying this series! If you wanted to read more and from the perspective of a user, this blogpost about the login page is another great read!

[Protik49]

Here’s my GitHub profile — feel free to check out!

I enjoyed reading this blog post on how mathematics built the modern world. It offers a compelling look at how mathematical thinking has shaped everything from architecture to the digital systems we use today. A great read if you’re curious about the mathematical structures behind modern tech!

[Seb0927]

Hello GitHub Community! It's great to participate in this challenge and learn with you about Accessibility. This is my GitHub profile (I think I need to fix the links to my social accounts 😶).

This is one of my favorite blog posts: My Favorite Git Commit. I feel that sometimes, as a programmer, I just focus on delivering code and forget that I'm not the only person who will work on what I'm doing. Reading that post made me more aware of the key role of documentation and helping others learn — with a funny but enlightening example.

[melvincwng]

Hi GitHub Community 👋🏻

Here's my GitHub Profile - feel free to check it out!

I found this blog post on Agentic AI systems that summarizes how we can create LLM Agents using LangChain and Sagemaker. The latest developments in AI & ML are so fascinating!

[allubie]

Hi everyone!
I'm Ishtiaque, check out my GitHub profile.
I'd like to share a post that I found useful, guide to deciding what AI model to use in GitHub Copilot. This guide will help you pick the right model for your use case.

[FranciscoLDB]

Hello guys!

I would like to invite you to check out my Github profile!

An post I find fascinating is What is a Quantum Random Number Generator? It is about Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNGs) enhancing cybersecurity, ensuring true randomness, and strengthening encryption against emerging quantum threats.

[queenofcorgis]

Nice work everyone on Week Two - we're halfway through ❤️ Continue learning with Week Three's discussion on plain language and emojis!

[queenofcorgis]

Don't miss the final challenge to update your README to be more inclusive. Grab some more tips and share your profile for feedback in this discussion.

[Vivek09Chahal]

Hello Everyone, I am Vivek 😉.
I will be happy if you guys will check my Vivek09Chahal
And I want to share a link of the blog in which GitHub blog discussed about
Boost your CLI skills with GitHub Copilot As junior developers we should learn CI/CD pipelines and understand how they work and there is GitHub Copilot ti is we stuck anywhere. 😁