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H33: Supplementing link text with the title attribute

Applicability

HTML 4, XHTML 1.0 and XHTML 1.1

This technique relates to:

User Agent and Assistive Technology Support Notes

Description

The objective of this technique is to demonstrate how to use a title attribute on an anchor element to provide additional text describing a link. The title attribute is used to provide additional information to help clarify or further describe the purpose of a link. If the supplementary information provided through the title attribute is something the user should know before following the link, such as a warning, then it should be provided in the link text rather than in the title attribute.

Examples

Example 1: Clarifying the purpose of a link

<a href="http://example.com/2005/WORLD/africa/08/25/kenya.elephants.ap/index.html" 
   title="Read more about failed elephant evacuation">
   Evacuation Crumbles Under Jumbo load
</a>

Example 2: A link that opens in a new window

In HTML 4.01 the target="_blank" attribute can be used on an anchor element to indicate that the URI specified by the href attribute will be opened in a new window. This example shows using the title attribute of the anchor element to provide information that the link will be opened in a new window.

<a href="http://example.com/subscribe.html" 
     target="_blank" 
     title="link opens in new window">
     Subscribe to email notifications about breaking news
</a>

Resources

No resources available for this technique.

Tests

Procedure

Examine the source code for anchor elements.

  1. For each anchor element that has a title attribute, check that the title attribute together with the link text describes the purpose of the link.

Expected Results