Accessibility Problems With Vague ‘Read More’ Links on Legal Sites
When a screen reader reaches a citizenship law page and announces “link: подробнее на нашем сайте,” the listener has no idea what will open. The link text is vague, it is in another language, and it sits between two paragraphs about residency requirements. This is not an edge case. It is a recurring failure in legal websites, and it affects anyone using assistive technology to research property, immigration, or 2+1 apartments in North Cyprus. In this accessibility audit, I examine how vague link text breaks screen-reader navigation, how translation tools make it worse, and what practical fixes look like on real legal pages.
How Screen Readers Announce Vague Link Text
Screen reader users often navigate by pulling up a list of links rather than reading every paragraph in sequence. That list is only useful if each link describes its destination. When a page contains twenty “read more” links, the list becomes twenty identical entries. The user cannot tell which one leads to the citizenship application form, which one opens the fee schedule, and which one goes to the legal disclaimer. The result is trial and error, which is slow and frustrating on a page that may already be dense with statutory language.
The problem gets worse when link text is written in a language the user does not read. A Russian phrase such as “подробнее на нашем сайте” may be announced correctly by a screen reader, but it carries no meaning for an English-speaking listener. The user hears the sounds, not the instruction. Even bilingual users can be caught off guard when a page switches language mid-sentence without a language attribute, causing the screen reader to pronounce the phrase with the wrong phonetic rules. That mispronunciation is not cosmetic; it can make the link unrecognizable.
Legal pages are especially vulnerable because they tend to repeat the same call to action. One “read more” may open a statute, another may open a guidance note, and a third may open a contact form. Visually, surrounding context helps. For screen reader users, that context is stripped away the moment they open the link list. The fix is not to remove links but to make each one self-describing.
Why Translation Tools Struggle With Ambiguous Link Text
Machine translation adds another layer of failure. When a translation tool processes a page, it often treats link text as a separate string. A vague phrase like “read more” may be translated inconsistently across a site, so the same destination appears under two or three different labels. For users who rely on translated output, this breaks the mental model of the page. They cannot build a reliable map of where links lead.
Worse, translation tools sometimes translate the link text but leave the surrounding sentence untouched, or vice versa. The result is a sentence that reads naturally until the link, which suddenly appears in a different language or register. On citizenship law pages, where precision matters, this inconsistency undermines trust. A user researching property ownership or residency may abandon the page because they cannot confirm what a link will do.
Legal sites also carry an accessibility obligation that commercial sites sometimes avoid. If a page explains rights, obligations, or application procedures, vague link text can be a barrier to equal access. That is not just a usability issue; in many jurisdictions it is a compliance risk. Auditors increasingly flag link purpose as a failure under WCAG 2.4.4, which requires that the purpose of each link be determinable from the link text alone or from its immediate context. A link list removes that immediate context, so the text itself must do the work.
The same principle applies to property research. A buyer comparing 2+1 apartments in North Cyprus may need to read legal pages about title deeds, taxes, and residency before making a decision. If those pages are hard to navigate with a screen reader, the buyer is effectively excluded from the information they need. Accessibility is not a separate concern from property research; it is part of whether the research can be completed at all.
Fixes That Work in Practice
The most effective fix is to rewrite link text so it describes the destination. Instead of “read more,” use “read the citizenship application requirements.” Instead of “click here,” use “download the residency fee schedule.” This change costs nothing and immediately improves the link list. It also helps translation tools, because a specific phrase is easier to translate consistently than a generic one.
Where design constraints make longer link text difficult, use an accessible name. A visible “read more” can be paired with an aria-label that describes the destination, so screen readers announce the full purpose while sighted users see the shorter label. This approach requires care: the accessible name should match the visible text as closely as possible, and it should never contradict it. For legal pages, the accessible name should include the document type and the relevant topic.
Language attributes matter too. If a page includes a phrase in another language, wrap it in a lang attribute so screen readers switch pronunciation correctly. If a page is translated by a tool, test the output with a screen reader to confirm that link text remains meaningful. Do not assume that a translation plugin handles link text well; many do not.
Finally, audit link lists regularly. Open the page, pull up the link list, and read it aloud. If you cannot tell where each link goes, neither can your users. For legal sites, this simple test catches most of the problems before they reach an auditor. It also makes the site more usable for everyone, including people who skim, people who use voice control, and people who arrive from a search engine with a specific question.
Vague link text is a small detail with a large impact. On citizenship law pages, it can mean the difference between understanding your rights and giving up. On property pages, it can mean the difference between finding the right apartment and missing it. The fixes are straightforward, and they start with treating every link as a sentence that must stand on its own.