WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: URL Question

for

From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Feb 2, 2016 12:28PM

John asked: "In a pdf document when a URL is hyperlinked what are best practices? Some say to hyperlink with the URL in parentheses after."

In the best case, I prefer create the link using text that clearly states where the link will take you. Then you can do one of two things with the actual URL. Either as John mentioned place it inside of parentheses, or place the links at the bottom of the page using footnotes.

URLS often fail to provide a clear indication of the destination of the link. However since PDF and Office documents are often distributed as paper documents having the actual URL also available makes perfect sense.

Mike Moore
Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Civil Rights Office
(512) 438-3431 (Office)