Is linktext a label?

Hello

Labels are described as any text presented to users to enable them to identify the purpose of a component. Does this included link text?

I would have assumed that it does, especially since you can apply an aria-label to a link and it will override the link text...

So as I understand it -

If the link purpose is not determinable it’ll fail to meet A - link purpose

If the link purpose is not determinable from the link text alone it’ll fail to meet AAA - link only purpose

If the label doesn’t match the accessible name (aria-lable doesn’t match link text) it’ll fail to meet A - label in name

But reading headings and labels AA, this also suggests that labels should be descriptive of the component purpose. So if a site implements many buttons with the same label but different purposes (such as ‘download’) I guess it would fail to meet the AA level as screen reader users can’t determine the purpose of these out of context? But if these are implemented as links instead of buttons and the surrounding context makes it clear what the purpose of the component is, then even though it is the exact same behaviour, they only fail to meet the AAA standard for link only purpose? Or would it fail AA headings and labels?

Please can you clarify this for me so I can understand the guidance.

Thanks

Sarah



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