Change Hyperlinks to Meaningful Text

It is important that each link has meaningful text describing the purpose of the link without relying on the surrounding text. While it is important to be descriptive it is also important to keep links as concise as possible.

Screen readers already inform users that they have encountered a link so there is no need to include language such as “link to” or “click the link” in link text. Meaningful titles for your hyperlinks will also ensure that screen reader users can more easily understand them.

Adding Meaningful Hyperlink Text in Canvas

Pinning Services in myCI Guide

Steps for Adding Meaningful Hyperlink Text in Canvas…

1. Sign in to myCI and click CI Learn to open Canvas
2. From the Canvas Dashboard, select the course you’d like to work on and click on the course card to open it.
3. Navigate to the content area where the hyperlink is located.
4. Click “Edit” in the top right corner to begin working within the text editor for that content.

By Fixing the Hyperlinked Text

1. Click on the link to open the menu and click “Link options”.
2. Once the Link Options panel opens on the right side of the window you can select the text in the “Text” field and replace it.
3. When finished click, “Done” at the bottom of the panel.
   *Repeat these steps for any other URLs within the same content area
4. When finished click “Save” (draft form/if not previously published) or “Save and Publish” if it’s complete.

By Changing the Text that is Hyperlinked

1. Click on the link to open the menu and click “Link options”.
2. Once the Link Options panel opens on the right side of the window, select the text in the “Link” field and copy it by
   • right-clicking on your mouse and select “Copy” or
   • using the Mac shortcut by pressing command+C while the text is highlighted, or
   • using the PC shortcut by pressing Ctrl+C while the text is highlighted.
3. Once the link text is copied, click “Done” to close the panel.
4. The linked text should still be selected in the editor, select “Remove Link”
   If not, click the link to open the menu and select “Remove Link”
5. Revise the sentence if needed and then select the text you’d like to hyperlink before clicking the “Links” icon from the content editor menu
6. Once the “Insert Link” window appears, the selected hyperlinked text should appear in the “Text” field and you can paste the copied original link in the “Link” field by
   • right-clicking on your mouse and select “Paste” or
   • using the Mac shortcut by pressing command+V, or
   • using the PC shortcut by pressing Ctrl+V.
7. When finished, click “Done” to close the Insert Link window.
   *Repeat these steps for any other URLs within the same content area
8. When finished click “Save” (draft form/if not previously published) or “Save and Publish” if it’s complete.

Resources

• Hyperlinks in Canvas Article