“Use links, don’t talk about them.” – Unsung

"The gist of it is simple: the mechanics of following a link are not important, and should be replaced by something that can make the link stand on its own. This is important for screen readers, but also for basic scannability: a 'click here' label has a lousy scent and requires you to take in the surroundings to understand what it really does. The rule is, in effect, a variant of 'show, don’t tell.'" A convicting read for me this weekend. I've been known to throw a link behind "here." Searching for [here] reveals 59 occurrences across this here blog. Each time I feel inclined to, I get a gut check. Sometimes the lazy way wins and I keep it. Other times I rewrite or simplify the link structure. It reminds me of advice Stephen King gives in On Writing about using adverbs that end in "ly." If something is "surprisingly simple," odds are that it just being "simple" is more effective on the page. Just link the appropriate words, you don't need to educate the reader where to click. Trust…