2.4.4 Link Purpose (In context)

The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context, except where the purpose of the link would be ambiguous to users in general. (Level A)

Description

The purpose of each link should be provided by the link text or its programmatically surrounded content. If the link text does not provide the target or purpose of the link the surrounding content should be able to do so.

For example, a news article have a paragraph of content and at the end a link is provided to read more. Users should be able to understand the target of the link by reading the content before the link. Similarly the column/ row header should be associated with link in a table to provide the context if the link itself cannot provide the purpose. Techniques such as CSS for hiding the content, ARIA-labelledby helps in providing the additional link text wherever required.

Hyperlink & accessibility and writing appropriate link text helps you understand how to make a meaningful link description that will be accessible for every user.