Typed Versus Embedded/Descriptive Hyperlinks

You likely know that underlined text on a digital document typically signifies a hyperlink or connection to another document or resource. But did you know the text used for that link can affect user experience? Review the following example. What might cause problems for a user viewing this content? sample content

Example One

To access the IDC website, visit the following link: http://idc.eku.edu. You may also view recordings of past Online Teaching and Learning sessions here: https://idc.eku.edu/news/otl-series/

Example Two

Visit the IDC website. You may also view recordings of past Online Teaching and Learning sessions:

Screen reader users often choose shortcuts to determine headings, list items, and links on a webpage. Below is an illustration of what these links will sound like to the screen reader user. As you can imagine, such link text is of no benefit to the user.

The  video on the right demonstrates how screen readers parse both of the above examples:

For this reason, whenever possible, please embed hyperlinks into the descriptive text of your online documents and other resources.