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Creating Accessible Educational Materials

Overview

Links quickly direct readers to related content. Many readers will skim through a document looking for specifically for links. Links should stand out from the rest of the page and be easy to find. Many screen readers create a similar experience for their users by offering a list of links found on a page. These links are separated from the text around them and need to be written so that it's easy to understand where they link to out of context.

Writing Link Text

Good link text should be:

Descriptive

Standardized

  • When possible, use standard terms when writing links. This makes links easier to find.
    • For example, the links to most contact pages say, "Contact us." Calling the page "talk to us" instead will make the page harder to find.
  • If you're linking to the same page more than once (for example, across multiple documents) try to use the same link text every time. This makes it easier for readers to identify the link.

Easy to See

  • Links should stand out from the text around them and be easily recognizable as links.
  • The standard ways to denote links are by underlining them and changing the text color. Learn more about contrast in text.

How to Create and Style a Link

Microsoft Word and PowerPoint

  1. Type the text you want to make into a link..
  2. Highlight the text.
  3. Right click on the highlighted text.
  4. On the menu that opens select Link.
  5. A pop-up will open. Paste the URL into the box labelled Address.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Microsoft Word will automatically create the link, underline it, and change the text's color.

To change the color of the text or the underline:

  1. Highlight the text.
  2. Right click on the highlighted text.
  3. Select Font from the menu. 
  4. A pop-up will open. Change the font and underline colors using the three boxes in the middle of the pop-up.

Adobe Acrobat

  1. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro and select Edit PDF.
  2. On the Edit bar select Link.
  3. From the dropdown menu, select Add/Edit web or document link.
  4. Highlight the text you want to make into a link.
  5. Under Link action select Open a web page.
  6. Select Next.
  7. Paste in your URL.
  8. Select OK.

Canvas and Study

  1. Highlight the text you want to make into a link.
  2. At the top of the editing box, select the chain icon.
  3. Choose Course link if you want to link to a document or page within your course. A sidebar will pop up. Search for and select the link you want inserted in your text. 
  4. Choose External link if you want to link to another course or a webpage outside Canvas or Study. A box will pop up. Paste the URL of the link you want inserted in your text.

Resources