Benefits | Nipissing University

Nipissing University

Future Students | Nipissing University

Student Financial Services | Nipissing University

404 | Nipissing University

International Students | Nipissing University

Alumni Relations | Nipissing University

Current Students | Nipissing University

Harris Learning Library | Nipissing University

Research & Innovation | Nipissing University

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

September 2025

August 2025

	Title / URL	Issues
	Benefits \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/alumni/benefits	100
	Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/	100
	Future Students \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/future-students	100
	Student Financial Services \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/departments/student-financial-services	100
	404 \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/invented-url-for-404-page	100
	International Students \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/international-students	100
	Alumni Relations \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/alumni	100
	Current Students \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/current-students	100
	Harris Learning Library \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/library	100
	Research & Innovation \| Nipissing Universitywww.nipissingu.ca/research	100

Combine adjacent links with the same destination

Nipissing University

Where this issue has occurred