link-name-quality

Link text should be descriptive, not generic

manualWCAG 2.4.4 (A)confidence: mediumseverity: minoroperable

Flags links whose full accessible name is a known non-descriptive phrase (e.g. "click here", "read more", "more") or a bare file-format name (e.g. "HTML", "PDF") with no adjacent context naming what it leads to, for manual review of whether the purpose is clear.

Applies to. Elements matching `a[href], area[href], [role="link"]` with a non-empty computed accessible name (programmatic first, then "name from content", same two-step resolution as `link-name-present`, same selector too). Links with no name at all are `link-name-present`'s concern, not this rule's.

Expectation. The link's full accessible name, normalized (trimmed, case-folded, trailing punctuation stripped), is not an exact match for a known non-descriptive phrase ("click here", "read more", "more", "here", "details", "link", etc., WCAG technique F84's known failure pattern for SC 2.4.4) or a bare file-format/type name ("HTML", "PDF", "EPUB", ...) with no adjacent context (an aria-describedby target, the enclosing list item/table cell/paragraph's own text, or (format names only) a table's first-row header) naming what it belongs to.

Examples

can't tell
<a href="/x">Click here</a>

"Click here" is a known generic phrase that doesn't describe the link's destination out of context.

n/a
<a href="/x">Download the 2026 pricing guide</a>

The link text is specific and descriptive.

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