Accessibility considerations for anchor tags with no content

Currently on our website, there is a component that utilizes an <a> tag with a background image set by the following CSS:

a.class-name::after {
    content: url('image.png');
}

The anchor tag itself has no visible content (appears as 

<a class="class-name" other-attrs></a>
). The issue at hand is the need to include alt-text for accessibility. As anchor tags do not support the alt attribute, I am considering two solutions:

  1. Injecting alt-text within the tag and then styling it to be invisible. There is concern whether this approach will be captured by screen readers, as they may detect hidden text.
  2. Including the alt-text in the title attribute of the tag. Although typically disregarded by screen readers, it has been noted that "the only very tiny exception a title attribute will be read is if there’s absolutely no link anchor text, and that’s rare". In our case, this scenario fits perfectly, but further verification from experts is warranted.

Is there a potentially superior third alternative? Regardless, any guidance on this matter would be greatly valued!

htmlcssaccessibilityanchor

Answer №1

Keeping things uncomplicated is essential. Simply include an aria-label attribute in the anchor element.

<a class="class-name" aria-label="text to be read by screen reader"></a>

Answer №2

For any content image, make sure to use a suitable content image:

<a ...><img src="image.png" alt="..."></a>

Background images should be reserved for backgrounds.

Answer №3

If you want to include a <span> element within an <a> tag, here's how:

<a href=""><span class="sr-only sr-only-focusable">alternate text</span></a>

Make sure to add the following CSS for these classes:

.sr-only {
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  padding: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
  white-space: nowrap;
  border: 0;
}

.sr-only-focusable:active, .sr-only-focusable:focus {
  position: static;
  width: auto;
  height: auto;
  overflow: visible;
  clip: auto;
  white-space: normal;
}

This styling is inspired by Bootstrap. For further inspiration, consider looking at H5BP or WordPress since they have similar approaches.

Proceed with applying your additional styles as needed. It's recommended to utilize background rather than pseudo elements to ensure better control over image size using content: url().

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