2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only)

1. What is the goal of this criterion?

Links are the backbone of the web – but what if all you read is “Click here” or “More” and you have no idea where it will take you? For people who navigate with a screen reader or work through lists of links, vague links are like signposts with no writing on them.

The goal of WCAG Success Criterion 2.4.9 is clear: every link should make its destination or action clear from its link text alone. No guessing, no surrounding sentence required – the link text stands on its own.

2. What exactly does it require?

A mechanism must be available that lets users identify the purpose of every link from the link text alone, without relying on the surrounding context. It is the stricter sibling of Link Purpose (In Context) at Level A: there, the purpose may also come from the sentence, paragraph or list item around the link. Here, it may not.

The core requirements:

• The link text on its own makes clear where the link goes or what it does.
• “Link text” means the programmatically determined text – the visible text, the alt text of a linked image, or a name provided via aria-label or aria-labelledby.
• Alternatively, a mechanism that lets users switch between short and descriptive link text is enough.

Recommended, but not part of the requirement: links to the same destination share the same text, and links to different destinations have different text. That makes lists of links far easier to work with.

Exception: the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general – for example, a game with deliberately mysterious links such as “Door 1” and “Door 2”.

A practical example: instead of “Click here”, a link should read “Download the product catalog (PDF)”. Instead of “More”, try “More about our sustainability strategy”.

3. Why does it matter for accessibility?

Imagine you are using a screen reader and pull up a list of all links on a page – and all it says is “Click here”, “More”, “Next”, “Here”. Without context, those links are useless.

Descriptive link text improves accessibility because it:

• helps screen reader users move efficiently through link lists without reading the context every time
• helps people with motor disabilities avoid unnecessary keystrokes, because they can go straight to the right link
• supports people with cognitive disabilities, since clear descriptions prevent confusion
• helps everyone, because clear links make a page easier to scan

And finally: people using voice control activate links by saying their name. “Click product catalog” works – “Click more” on a page with ten “More” links does not.

4. How to meet the criterion

The quality of your link text decides whether your website is genuinely usable – or only meets standards on the surface. Here are the most reliable strategies:

Ground rules for good link text:

• Be specific: “Download the 2025 annual report (PDF)” instead of “Download”
• Use action words: “Book an appointment”, “Compare prices”, “Start registration”
• Name the destination: “Go to the contact page”, “Open the product data sheet”
• Mention the format: “Watch the video tutorial”, “Infographic (PNG)”
• Keep it concise: clear and understandable, but not overly long

Technical implementation:

• Use real <a> elements with descriptive link text.
• If the visible text has to stay short, you can extend it with visually hidden text or aria-label. Important: the visible text must be part of the accessible name, otherwise you fail Label in Name.
• aria-describedby does not count as link text – it only adds a description, which many screen readers do not show in link lists.
• For image links, the alt text describes the destination, not the picture.
• In image maps, every area needs its own clear description.

<a href="/blog/accessible-forms">
  Read more<span class="visually-hidden">: Accessible forms</span>
</a>

A mechanism for flexibility: you can also offer a toggle near the top of the page that switches between short and descriptive link text – useful for pages with many downloads, where some people prefer “PDF” and others “Download the 2025 product catalog (PDF)”.

Testing:

• Open the links list in a screen reader (in NVDA with NVDA + F7) and check that every entry makes sense on its own.
• Use browser extensions that list all links on a page.
• Check for consistency: same destination, same link text.

5. Why this criterion matters for businesses

2.4.9 is a Level AAA criterion, so it is not legally required under the European Accessibility Act or its German implementation, the BFSG. Both rely on EN 301 549, which points to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Clear links still pay off in very concrete ways.

1. Better usability

Descriptive links reduce mis-clicks and confusion. People know what to expect before they click – especially those who skim pages quickly.

2. Indirectly better findability

Accessibility is not a direct ranking factor. But descriptive link text helps search engines understand what the linked page is about – Google’s own guidance recommends descriptive anchor text over “click here”.

3. Support for voice control

Voice control users activate links by name. Unique, descriptive link text is what makes that reliable.

And finally: if you write link text to the 2.4.9 standard, you will almost always meet the required criterion 2.4.4 as well – a solid safety margin for any audit. This section is general information, not legal advice.

6. The success criterion in the W3C’s words

Success Criterion 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only) (Level AAA)

A mechanism is available to allow the purpose of each link to be identified from link text alone, except where the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general.

In short: the purpose of every link must be clear from its link text alone – unless it would be unclear to everyone.