Finance Consulting | Accenture

LearnVantage: Learning Services & Solutions | Accenture

Metaverse Enterprise Consulting Services & Solutions | Accenture

Supply Chain Networks Consulting Services & Solutions | Accenture

Healthcare Consulting Services & Solutions | Accenture

Utilities Consulting Services | Accenture

Ireland | Let There Be Change | Accenture

Retail Consulting Services & Solutions | Accenture

What We Think | Business & Technology Insights | Accenture

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Two adjacent links should not point to the same destination. You almost always want to combine the 
two links.

For example, it is quite common to link an image and text together like this:

```html
<a href="news.html">
    <img src="photo.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
<a href="news.html">
    News
</a>
``` 

These adjacent links should be combined like so:

```html
<a href="news.html">
    <img src="photo.jpg" alt="" />
    News
</a>
``` 

Links to `#` are ignored, as these are nearly always placeholders for JavaScript, e.g.:

```html
<a href="#" onclick="approve()">
    OK
</a>
<a href="#" onclick="reject()">
    Cancel
</a>
```

# Justification

Many users of assistive technology are only able to experience content sequentially - that is, they must
step through each part of the page, one part at a time. Often this is a slow process, potentially 
hampered by a physical impediment.

Stepping through redundant links is time consuming; for example users of a screen reader must 
hear each link read aloud in turn. 

This also simplifies your code. 

# Methodology

1. Find all links (`<a>` tags) on the page.
2. Ignore links pointing to `#`, as these are usually placeholders for JavaScript.
3. Flag links which are (a) separated only by whitespace and (b) which point to the 
   same absolute URL.  

# Learn more

Read about [Technique H2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H2) on how to combine
an adjacent image and texts links.

duplicate-adjacent-link

February 2026

January 2026

Accenture

Title / URL	Issues
Finance Consulting \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/services/finance-risk	1
LearnVantage: Learning Services & Solutions \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/services/learning	1
Metaverse Enterprise Consulting Services & Solutions \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/services/metaverse	1
Supply Chain Networks Consulting Services & Solutions \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/services/supply-chain	1
Healthcare Consulting Services & Solutions \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/industries/health	1
Utilities Consulting Services \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/industries/utilities	1
Ireland \| Let There Be Change \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/ie-en	1
Retail Consulting Services & Solutions \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/industries/retail	1
What We Think \| Business & Technology Insights \| Accenturewww.accenture.com/us-en/insights-index	1
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.accenture.com/ie-en	1

Combine adjacent links with the same destination

Accenture

Where this issue has occurred