Link text should be unique
WAI Checkpoint 13.1 (Priority 2) states:
Clearly identify the target of each link.
It then goes on to explain:
Link text should be meaningful enough to make sense when read out of context – either on its own or as part of a sequence of links. Link text should also be terse.
The usual reason given for this checkpoint is that screen readers often have a facility to list links separately, so it is important that links within this list are meaningful and relatively unique.
But is that the only reason?
Since starting to use Dragon, I have come across another very important reason why link text on a given page needs to be unique and relatively terse. When browsing the Web using Dragon, links are selected by simply saying their name – usually followed by an instruction to press the enter key. If link text is replicated on a page, or is particularly complex, it is easy to see how browsing can rapidly become an exercise in frustration, and probably a recipe for laryngitis.
Dragon does not need the entire link text to be vocalised in order to select it. Sometimes the first three or four words will be sufficient. So while it is not essential to keep link text short, where it does extend beyond a few words, it would be helpful if the first few words created a unique phrase that Dragon could recognise easily. When choosing link text, try to avoid especially complex words or phrases that are difficult to say.
It is very easy to become tongue-tied when dictating to VR software.