RE: Click here and other bad link texts

> > > In the text that you have created to recommend not to use
> "click here" I
> > > think that it is important that you also explain that the
> same text of a
> > > link should not be used to point to different resources.
> >
> >Good point. One excellent "visual" demonstration of the problem
> this causes
> >can be seen using Opera 7, which offers (as part of the browser) a hotbar
> >tab to "list all links". This may convince quite a few
> "visually-dependant"
> >website developers why good descriptive link text is an advantage.
>
> Another would be to use IE and to use the option "Print table of
> links".  That tends to be an eye opener on the link text.

A contrary argument can be made for using words that flow naturally with the
text, and solving any mystery-meat issues with additional information from
title (the assumption being that whatever UA is used would make use of this
in some sensible way - I don't want to start a debate about what that
sensible way is again).

Eg:

When I finished copying it to the <a href="public/" title="web view of our
public directory">pub</a> directory I went to the <a
href="http://somePubSite.com" title="My &quot;Local&quot; - Some Public
House">pub</a>.

Not only is "Then I went to the pub." more natural language than anything
more specific, it is also possibly the text which was then hyperlinked
after-the-fact. The title *should* be enough for any UA to make the link as
explicit as suits the medium used.

Anything which lists links, such as Opera 7 or IE on printing, could make
use of the title to prevent the ambiguity of "pub".

Received on Wednesday, 12 February 2003 05:47:34 UTC