Published October 16, 2026

WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context), Level A

Do “Read more” links fail WCAG?

Not always. Success criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) is Level A, so it is also required at Level AA. The purpose of each link must be determinable from the link text alone, or from the link text together with its programmatically determined context. “Read more” and “click here” fail when that context is missing. They can pass when the purpose is in the link or in text the link is programmatically tied to. The text is in the W3C WCAG 2.2 Recommendation.

What counts as the purpose of a link?

Enough information for a person to decide whether to follow it. The name of the document or page is enough. Other wording can be enough too. The page that opens still needs a title that describes that topic or purpose, covered on the page title page. The W3C explanation is in Understanding Success Criterion 2.4.4. The clearest case is link text that states the purpose by itself, documented as technique H30. Screen readers can list every link on the page. Text that only says “Read more” is meaningless in that list unless context is available without leaving the link.

When does “Read more” still pass?

Programmatically determined context is additional information that comes from a relationship with the link, not from text that merely appears nearby. In HTML, the Understanding document says that relationship includes:

• The same sentence, paragraph, list item, or table cell as the link.
• A table header cell associated with the cell that contains the link.
• An accessible name from aria-label or aria-labelledby.

The W3C example is a news summary: the first sentences of an article, then “Read more,” in the same paragraph. Reading that paragraph tells a person which article the link opens. That pattern is technique H78. Context is easier to use when it comes before the link. A sentence that names the destination and ends in “click here” is clearer than a “click here” that is explained only afterward.

Does a heading above the link count?

Not by itself. A card with a visible heading and a separate “Read more” link fails 2.4.4 when the heading is not in one of those relationships. The documented failure is technique F63: context that is not related to the link. Using the preceding heading is listed as an advisory technique, not as a sufficient one. An aria-label that replaces the visible words “Read more” with different words can satisfy 2.4.4 and still fail 2.5.3 Label in Name, because the visible text has to be part of the accessible name. How names are built is on the accessible names page. An image that is the only content of a link needs a text alternative that states the purpose. An empty alternative on that image fails. Alt text for images is on the alt text page.

Why is link text alone a different rule?

Success criterion 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only) is Level AAA. It asks for a way to identify the purpose from the link text alone, with the same narrow exception for a purpose that would be ambiguous to users in general. Level AA does not require 2.4.9. The exception is small. It covers a link whose destination nobody can know until it is activated, such as a game that labels doors only as door #1, door #2, and door #3. It does not cover “Read more” when sighted readers can see a nearby headline that is not programmatically tied to the link. The AAA text is in the WCAG 2.2 Recommendation. The same purpose should use the same wording where 3.2.4 Consistent Identification applies to a set of pages. Links in a PDF use the PDF link structure, covered on the accessible PDFs page.

Does the Title II web rule include link purpose?

Yes. The Department of Justice rule for state and local government websites names WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That level includes 2.4.4 and 2.5.3. It does not include 2.4.9. Who must comply, and the April 2027 and April 2028 dates, are on the Title II web rule page. A scanner can flag an empty link and a set of identical “Read more” links. It often cannot tell whether the enclosing paragraph actually names the destination. Those checks are done by a person, which is why a passing score is not conformance, as covered on the scanner page. The fix is in the link text or in the markup that ties the link to its description, which is remediation.