Is Alternate Text for Hyperlinks Really Required?

Listen to Chad and Dax talk about alternate descriptions for hyperlinks and what WCAG has to say about it. They mention PDF/UA-2 set to remove the mandatory requirement for alternate link descriptions. Chad shares a users comment, “I want users of assistive technology to have the same crappy experience a sighted person has when reading long URLs.” You will get a chuckle out of our “Six Degrees of separation from Dyson,” and why where the link takes you matters. 

Later on they discuss how visual cues reduce our cognitive load and share the PDF for the Do No Harm Guide on Design Visualization. Chad explains, “Reading through a rectangle” and Dax discusses at what point is the level of effort too much or enough? We end with balancing “no significant barrier” and level of effort in documents. Definitely an information-packed episode.

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