# Link

> The control that navigates somewhere — distinct from a button, which performs an action, and confused with one in most products.

- Category: UI Components
- Canonical: https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/link-ui

A link navigates. A button acts. That is the whole distinction, and most products get it wrong in at least one direction.

The consequence is not stylistic. An anchor with an `href` can be middle-clicked, opened in a new tab, copied, bookmarked, and followed by a crawler. A `div` with a click handler that looks identical does none of that, and a keyboard cannot reach it.

## When it is a link

The destination is a URL. Somebody should be able to share it, return to it, or open it in a second tab while keeping this one.

## When it is a button

Save, delete, submit, open a [modal](https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/modal-design), toggle a panel. Nothing in the address bar changes. See [button design](https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/button-design).

The awkward middle is a navigation that looks like an action — "Start free trial" leading to `/signup`. That is a link, styled as a button. Style is free; the element is not.

## Underlines

Inside body text, underline them. Colour alone is a failure for anybody with a colour vision deficiency, and [WCAG 1.4.1](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/use-of-color.html) treats it as such.

In navigation, position carries the signal — a row of items in a header is understood as clickable — so hover and focus styles are enough.

The pattern that fails quietly is the half-measure: body links in a slightly different shade with no underline, which passes a designer's eye on a calibrated screen and disappears on a phone in daylight.

## Writing them

**Describe the destination in the link text.** "Read more" eleven times on a page produces eleven identical entries in a screen reader's link list.

**Front-load the distinguishing words.** People scan the first two. "Pricing for teams" beats "Learn about our pricing for teams".

**Do not put the URL in the text** unless the URL is the point. `https://example.com/docs/v2/reference/authentication` read aloud character by character is a small cruelty.

## New tabs

Body text links should not open new tabs. The back button is the control people reach for, and a new tab removes it.

The defensible exceptions are downloads, and references meant to be consulted alongside a form somebody is filling in. Both should say so in the link or beside it, because an unannounced new tab reads as a broken back button.

## States

Five, and most implementations ship three.

Default, hover, **focus** (a visible ring, keyboard users depend on it), active, and **visited**. Visited is the one almost universally dropped, and in documentation or a long reference index it is the state that saves people from reading the same page twice.

## Targets

[WCAG 2.2](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/target-size-minimum.html) sets 24 by 24 CSS pixels as the floor, with an exemption for links inline in a sentence. Dense lists of small links — footers, tag clouds, table cells — are where the exemption does not apply and the failure usually is.

## In practice

A B2B dashboard renders its table rows as clickable `div`s. The row navigates to a record.

Three things break. Nobody can open a record in a new tab, which is how account managers compare two customers. Keyboard users cannot reach the rows at all. And support gets asked for a way to send a colleague a link to a specific record, which exists in the address bar but cannot be reached without clicking through.

Replacing the handler with an anchor on the primary cell fixes all three, and changes nothing visually.

## Where teams get it wrong

- **A `div` with a click handler.** No keyboard, no new tab, no crawl.
- **A button that navigates.** The address bar changes, the element says it did not.
- **Colour without an underline.** Invisible to some readers, faint to the rest.
- **"Read more" repeated.** A list of identical entries.
- **Silent new tabs.** A back button that appears broken.
- **No visited state.** The same page read twice.

## Related terms

- [Button Design](https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/button-design)
- [Navbar UI](https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/navbar-ui)
- [Breadcrumb UI](https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/breadcrumb-ui)
- [Interaction Design](https://www.themasterly.com/glossary/interaction-design)

## FAQ

**What is the difference between a link and a button?**

A link navigates to a new location. A button performs an action in place. The distinction is not cosmetic: links can be opened in a new tab, copied, bookmarked, and crawled, and buttons cannot. Styling one as the other is fine; using the wrong element is not.

**Should links always be underlined?**

Inside body text, yes. Colour alone fails for anybody who cannot distinguish it, and WCAG requires a second visual cue. In navigation, where position already signals that something is clickable, an underline on hover is enough.

**Should links open in a new tab?**

Rarely, and never inside body text. Opening a new tab takes the back button away from the reader, which is the control they expect. Downloads and references consulted alongside a form are the reasonable exceptions, and they should say so.

**What makes link text accessible?**

It has to describe the destination on its own. "Read more" repeated eleven times gives a screen reader user a list of eleven identical entries. Front-load the distinguishing words, because people scan the first two.

**How large should a link tap target be?**

At least 24 by 24 CSS pixels under WCAG 2.2, and 44 points is the practical minimum on touch. Inline links in a paragraph are exempt, which is why dense lists of small links are the common mobile failure.

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