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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

January 2026

December 2025

Brighton and Hove City Council

Title / URL	Issues
Form finder \| Brighton & Hove City Councilwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/form-finder	100
News search \| Brighton & Hove City Councilwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/search?f%5B0%5D=news-date%3A2024-11	1
Hear from our staffwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/jobs/hear-our-staff	1
Regenerating our citywww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/city-regeneration	1
News search \| Brighton & Hove City Councilwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/search?f%5B0%5D=news-date%3A2021-07	1
News search \| Brighton & Hove City Councilwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/search?f%5B0%5D=news-date%3A2021-11	1
Newsroomwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news	1
News search \| Brighton & Hove City Councilwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/search?f%5B0%5D=news-date%3A2025-07	1
Your Voice – consultations and engagementwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/your-voice-consultations-and-engagement	1
News search \| Brighton & Hove City Councilwww.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/search?f%5B0%5D=news-date%3A2021-05	1

Ensure links can be used by screen readers

Brighton and Hove City Council

Where this issue has occurred