Friday, November 12, 2010

Click here for more about clicking here

This is one for anyone who ever does any web-copywriting.

When ever anyone suggests use of the words “Click here” or “Find out more” you’ll often here me make a grunt of disgust.

The reason this language is bad practice from an accessibility point of view. I’ve often found it hard to explain why, but I’ve discovered this article which seems to explain it quite clearly. So if you’re interested follow this link which will take you to an article about why we shouldn’t just say click here.

The main thing to keep in mind is that a link should make sense out of context because this is how users with screen readers may read it.

“Click here” tells me nothing about where I am clicking to. If “Click here” is mentioned multiple times on the page it is annoying to the blind user tabbing round the screen.

Instead you can have:
  • “Click here to find out more about job vacancies”
  •  “Here is a picture of a chicken in a corset”
  •  "Click for a text only version of this page”
  • “Find out more about Chicken Corsets here”
  • “Download our Chicken Corset Catalogue here (133kb PDF)”
In all cases you, the user, should be clear what you will see when you click that link.

The only problem is, “Click here” is so neat, it’s small and succinct and it’s a habit we all find hard to break. Nonetheless it’s something to keep in mind.



1 comment:

Nic said...

Loving the chicken photo!