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Links must be defined in a specific way to be accessed by screen readers, which are used by 
blind and the partially-sighted.

To work with accessibility technologies, links must contain both machine-readable text, and 
a `href` attribute. If a link is not actually
pointing to a page or part of a page, it should be replaced with another semantic element, such
as a `button`, or the `<a>` tag should have a role of `button`. 

For example:

```html
<a href="/about">About us</a>
```

If the link contains _nothing but an image_, that image should specify alternative text, e.g.

```html
<a href="/apple">
    <img src="apple.png" alt="Apple">
</a>
```

Before HTML5, an anchor was often used to create a target to link to, e.g.

```html
<a name="example"></a>
```

This is not supported in HTML5, and the use of anchors for targets is discouraged. Use an `id`
attribute on a non-anchor tag instead, e.g.

```html
<div id="example"> ... </div>
```

Empty links (e.g. `<a></a>`) are often incorrectly used for buttons or controls in a
JavaScript application. In these cases, you should usually define the link as having a more appropriate
role, e.g. as a button. To do this, use the `role` attribute (e.g `<a role="button">`), or replace 
the `<a>` tag with a more appropriate tag, such as `<button>`.

For more details, see [Technique H91](https://www.w3.org/TR/2016/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20161007/H91)
and learn about [ARIA roles](https://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-use-aria-effectively-with-html5/).

bad-anchor

September 2025

August 2025

Brigham Young University

	Title / URL	Issues
	Home - Academic Calendaracademiccalendar.byu.edu/?y=2023	34
	Home - Academic Calendaracademiccalendar.byu.edu/	34
	Harold B. Lee Librarylib.byu.edu/	2
	BYU Cookie Preferencesprivacy.byu.edu/cookie-prefs	2
	News Homepage - BYU Newsnews.byu.edu/	1
	First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.byu.edu/	1
	Home - BYUwww.byu.edu/	1
	Privacy Notice \| BYU Information Securityprivacy.byu.edu/privacy-notice	1
	Homehelp.byu.edu/	1
	CAS – Central Authentication Servicecas.byu.edu/cas/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fcas.byu.edu%2Fcas%2Fidp%2Fprofile%2FSAML2%2FCallback%3Fsrid%3D_6af22f3bc01a53e308fc86e448c18f3c%26entityId%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fshib.byu.edu%252Fidp%252Fshibboleth	1

Ensure links can be used by screen readers

Brigham Young University

Where this issue has occurred