The Wall of 'Read More': A Link-Text Audit for UK Council Websites
Why the link list matters
Most people meet a web page as a visual composition. Headings, paragraphs, cards and images provide a constant stream of context. A screen reader user can choose a different route: they can ask the browser or assistive technology to list every link on the page. That list removes the visual layout and, in many cases, the surrounding sentence. What remains is the link text itself, one item after another.
This is not an obscure edge case. It is a routine way of navigating busy pages, particularly for people who know what they are looking for and want to avoid reading from the top. When a page contains twelve instances of 'Read more', six instances of 'Download' and a handful of 'Click here' links, the link list stops being a navigation aid and becomes a test of memory and guesswork.
WCAG 2.4.4, Link Purpose (In Context), asks that the purpose of a link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined context. A link list is a useful stress test because it removes much of that context. The stronger practice is to make the link text meaningful on its own wherever possible. That is not a new standard; it is a basic courtesy that many UK council and housing association websites still struggle to apply consistently.
What a small sample showed
A review of a small sample of UK council and housing association homepages and service pages found a familiar split. The strongest examples used link text that named both the action and the destination. A council tax page offered 'Apply for Council Tax Reduction'. A waste service page offered 'Check your bin collection day'. A housing association page offered 'Download the repairs handbook (PDF, 1.2MB)'. These links survived the link list because they told the user what would happen next.
The weaker examples collapsed into repetition. News panels carried multiple 'Read more' links with no indication of the article. Consultation pages used 'More information' beside several different proposals. Document libraries used 'Download' as the visible text for policies, forms and minutes. Cookie banners added 'here' links in sentences such as 'For details, click here'. In each case, the visual design supplied the missing context through proximity, headings or card layout, but the link list did not.
Some pages also revealed a subtler problem: accessible names that did not match the visible text. A link visibly labelled 'Read more' might have had an aria-label saying 'Read more about the draft Local Plan'. That is better for a screen reader link list, but it creates a mismatch for voice control users who say what they see. The more robust solution is to make the visible text specific in the first place, or to use visually hidden text that is included in the accessible name without contradicting the visible label.
A five-point link audit routine
1. Extract the link inventory
Use the screen reader's link list, a browser extension or a simple developer tools query to capture every link on the page. Record the visible text, the accessible name and the destination. Do not rely on a visual scan alone; the point of the exercise is to see the page as a list.
2. Read the list cold
Read the links in order without referring back to the page. Ask whether each one makes sense as an action. If you need the heading above it to explain it, mark it. This is the quickest way to find the 'Read more' and 'Download' clusters.
3. Group by destination and action
Sort the links into groups: apply, pay, report, book, download, contact, view. A page with five 'Contact us' links to different teams is not automatically wrong, but it is a warning sign. The link text should distinguish the benefits team from the housing team if both are present.
4. Check duplicates in context
Repeated link text is not always a failure. A table of documents may legitimately repeat 'PDF' in a file-type column. The problem arises when the link text is the only label and the surrounding content is not programmatically associated. For cards and lists, test whether each repeated link has a unique accessible name.
5. Verify file types, new tabs and hidden context
Check whether links that open a PDF, open a new tab or start a download say so. Then check how they say so. A file type in the visible link text is useful; a file type buried in an aria-label may not help voice control users. Consistency matters more than cramming every attribute into every link.
Rewrite patterns that work
The simplest pattern is verb plus object. 'Click here to pay your council tax' becomes 'Pay your council tax'. 'Read more' becomes 'Read more about the draft Local Plan' or, better, 'Read the draft Local Plan consultation'. 'Download' becomes 'Download the waste collection calendar (PDF, 90KB)'. 'More information' becomes 'View the Housing Register policy'.
For file types, put the format in the visible text when it changes the user's expectation. A PDF that opens in the browser is different from a spreadsheet download. For new tabs, use a short phrase such as 'opens in new tab' only when the link genuinely opens a new tab. Do not add it by habit, and do not rely on an icon alone to communicate the behaviour.
For destinations, name the service or team. 'Get in touch' is weaker than 'Contact the benefits team'. 'Apply' is weaker than 'Apply for a school place'. The aim is not to make every link a sentence. It is to make every link identifiable when the surrounding paragraph is gone.
Keeping it manageable
Link text is a content design issue, not a technical afterthought. The most sustainable fix is a pattern library for common actions, backed by editorial guidance and a quick check in the publishing workflow. Content teams should be able to see the link list for a page before it goes live. That single view exposes more accessibility problems than many lengthy checklists.
The 'Read more' epidemic is not caused by malice or ignorance. It is caused by templates that prioritise visual neatness over standalone meaning. A five-point audit routine, applied to a handful of high-traffic pages, will show where the pattern breaks. The rewrites are rarely difficult. The harder part is making the specific link text the default, rather than an exception that someone has to remember.
