Link text not found*

Error Report

Links should contain text.

Why Is This Important?

If there is no text or image in the link, students will have:

  • Nothing to click on (if the link was to another place in Canvas)
  • An unexplained icon to click on (if the link is to an external website)
  • A link without any information about the destination (if the link is accessed by a student using a text-to-speech or screen reader Links to an external site. program).

Cause Of Error

To get this UDOIT result, you will need to have one or more links that do not contain text or do not contain images with alt text. The most common ways to reach this error are to:

  • rearrange lists of links.
  • delete linked text or images without also deleting the link.

UDOIT can tell when there is an empty link because the code will look like one of the following (the [...] will vary):

  • <a [...]"></a>
  • <a [...]">&nbsp;</a>
  • <a [...]"> </a>

 

Examples

Arrangement Example

In this example, the second item in the list contains a link without linked text. To get this link, the author placed their cursor in front of "Top of Page" link, pressed the enter key to create a new list item, and then pasted the link to Google on this new list item line.

Unlike the other examples on this page, you cannot see evidence of the empty link because URL for the link is to a page (or part of a page) in Canvas. Were this link to a source outside of Canvas, you would see a symbol.

Deletion Example

For this example, the author created a link to the UCF's UDOIT page but decided it was not needed and deleted the text. What they didn't realize is that the link remained even without the text in it.

Links to an external site.

In the mobile app, the Hide and Show Code Links are obsolete. We couldn't hide them without removing them from the web browser view.

Semi-False Positive

If you receive this result because a linked image does not have alt text, this result is legitimate; however, do not use the U Fix It! button for "Links should contain text" to fix these. Using the button for this result will add linked text to the left of the image. Instead, you'll want to check the Suggestions section for Image elements should have an "alt" attribute and use the U Fix It! buttons there.

How To Fix It

U FIX IT! Button

Within UDOIT, if you click the U FIX IT! button, you will be provided with

  • A text field where you can enter in New link text (the text that students will see).
  • A Delete this Link completely instead checkbox.

To determine the correct route, click the View the source of this issue, copy the URL that appears between href=" and ", open a new tab, paste the URL in the address bar, and then view the website. If you also need to verify that the link is available elsewhere on the page where the issue was found, you can click on the page title located in the light gray box at the top of this section of results to open the page in a new tab.

After you've determined the correct course and have either filled the field or checked the checkbox, click the Submit button and UDOIT will apply the change.

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Last Updated January 2017.
Clemson Online