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How to Make “Read More” Links Accessible Without Changing Your Design

A compact “Read more” link can stay in your design if its purpose is clear to assistive technology. Choose descriptive link text, or connect the label to its card heading.
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You can keep a compact “Read more” link in an article card, but make sure its purpose is clear when someone encounters it outside the visual layout. The strongest option is descriptive visible link text; when the design requires the shorter label, associate it with the card heading or give it a descriptive accessible name.

Why repeated “Read more” links need context

When several links all say “Read more,” someone using a screen reader’s link list—or moving through links with the keyboard—may not be able to tell where each one leads. W3C’s failure technique F84 describes this problem when repeated link text does not distinguish destinations: F84: Failure of Success Criterion 2.4.9 due to link text not describing the purpose of a link.

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W3C WAI’s general advice is direct: “Write link text so that it describes the content of the link target.” It specifically identifies “read more” as ambiguous link text. See WAI’s writing links guidance.

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Best option: make the visible link descriptive

If your card design allows it, use link text that identifies the destination, such as “Read the guide to choosing a laptop” or “See how the storm affected the east coast.” This works whether the link is encountered in the card or on its own, and it avoids relying on extra assistive-technology-only context.

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Keep the wording concise and specific. “Read more about this” is still unclear when the link is separated from the surrounding card. Name the subject or content the link opens instead.

Keep the short label and connect it to the card heading

If the visible design depends on the words “Read more,” associate the link programmatically with the relevant heading. W3C’s ARIA7 technique demonstrates using aria-labelledby to combine the visible link text with a heading, so that the link’s accessible name identifies the article.

<article>
  <h2 id="story-title">Storms hit east coast</h2>
  <p>Read the latest update on the storm’s impact.</p>
  <a href="/storms-east-coast" aria-labelledby="read-more story-title">
    <span id="read-more">Read more</span>
  </a>
</article>

With this pattern, the heading supplies the distinguishing context for the short label. Make sure the ID referenced by aria-labelledby exists and identifies the correct heading for that specific card. If a page contains multiple cards, each referenced ID must be unique.

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Alternative: add a descriptive accessible name

You can also retain the short visible label and provide a fuller name with aria-label. W3C’s ARIA8 technique advises starting that name with the visible words. For example:

<a href="/storms-east-coast" aria-label="Read more about storms hitting the east coast">
  Read more
</a>

Including “Read more” at the beginning keeps the accessible name aligned with the visible label. The accessible name can replace the visible text for assistive technology, so avoid wording that makes the control seem unrelated to what is on screen.

Choose context that remains useful outside the card

W3C documents ways to use surrounding context, including a preceding heading and the enclosing paragraph. The H80 technique covers a heading before a link; H78 covers using the enclosing paragraph. These approaches can help when context is programmatically available, but descriptive link text remains the clearest choice when the design permits it.

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For cards and lists, prefer a link name that still makes sense when read apart from nearby text. Use the heading association or a descriptive accessible name where a short visible call to action is a genuine design requirement, and avoid attaching so much surrounding copy that the link name becomes unwieldy.

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Do not use the title attribute as the main fix

Adding a title attribute is not a reliable substitute for descriptive link text or a properly associated name. W3C’s H33 technique prefers descriptive link text or text hidden with CSS over relying on the title attribute.

Check the result in your page

  1. Inspect each link’s computed accessible name in the browser’s accessibility tools or equivalent tooling. Confirm it identifies the destination rather than presenting only “Read more.”
  2. Navigate the page by keyboard and, where possible, with the screen readers and browsers your organization supports. Check that repeated links are distinguishable and that the name matches the visible control.
  3. Review card markup after changes: ensure heading references are correct and IDs are unique, or verify that each aria-label names the right article.

W3C’s ARIA and HTML techniques are examples of ways to meet accessibility requirements, not mandatory implementations. Announcement details can vary across browser and assistive-technology combinations, so evaluate the actual name and experience in the environments you support.

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