AU Arts Home | American University, Washington, DC

Giving to AU | American University, Washington, DC

College of Arts & Sciences | American University, Washington, DC

Page Not Found

University Calendar | American University, Washington, DC

Summer Programs | American University, Washington, DC

Graduate Admissions | American University, Washington, DC | American University, Washington, DC

School of International Service | American University, Washington, DC

University Library | American University, Washington, DC

About American University | American University, Washington, DC

Do not link to an anchor on the page that does not exist. For example:
linking to `#content` without a valid destination such as `<body id="content"></body>`.

A common web design pattern is to use a named anchor to show an element via JavaScript, e.g.

```html
<a href="#foo" onclick="$('.bar').toggle();">Click me</a>
<div class="bar">
    This is some content.
</div>
``` 

In these cases, the anchor (`#foo`) should point to the `id` of the hidden element:

```html
<a href="#foo" onclick="$('#foo').toggle();">Click me</a>
<div id="foo">
    This is some content.
</div>
```

This way the semantic intent of the link is preserved, even without JavaScript. 
Note that doing so may require modification to your script, to prevent automatic 
scrolling to the named anchor.

linking-to-anchor-on-page-that-does-not-exist

June 2025

May 2025

American University

	Title / URL	Issues
	AU Arts Home \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/arts/index.cfm	2
	Giving to AU \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/giving/	1
	College of Arts & Sciences \| American University, Washington, DCwww.american.edu/cas/	1
	Page Not Foundamerican.edu/invented-url-for-404-page	1
	University Calendar \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/calendar/	1
	Summer Programs \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/summer/index.cfm	1
	Graduate Admissions \| American University, Washington, DC \| American University, Washington, DCwww.american.edu/admissions/graduate-admissions/	1
	School of International Service \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/sis/	1
	University Library \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/library/	1
	About American University \| American University, Washington, DCamerican.edu/about/	1

Avoid linking to anchors that do not exist

American University

Where this issue has occurred