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Accessibility for svg in link

Lighthouse highlights an accessibility issue called Links do not have a discernible name for the following HTML.

<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/test">
    <svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fab" data-icon="youtube" class="svg-inline--fa fa-youtube fa-w-18 " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 576 512">
        <path fill="currentColor" d="M549.655 124.083c-6.281-23.65-24.787-42.276-48.284-48.597C458.781 64 288 64 288 64S117.22 64 74.629 75.486c-23.497 6.322-42.003 24.947-48.284 48.597-11.412 42.867-11.412 132.305-11.412 132.305s0 89.438 11.412 132.305c6.281 23.65 24.787 41.5 48.284 47.821C117.22 448 288 448 288 448s170.78 0 213.371-11.486c23.497-6.321 42.003-24.171 48.284-47.821 11.412-42.867 11.412-132.305 11.412-132.305s0-89.438-11.412-132.305zm-317.51 213.508V175.185l142.739 81.205-142.739 81.201z">
        </path>
    </svg>
</a>

Link text (and alternate text for images, when used as links) that is discernible, unique, and focusable improves the navigation experience for screen reader users.

Is there a way to address this issue, given that I am using an svg as the link's content?

Solution

  • Two ways to address this, visually hidden text or by adding a <title> to your SVG.

    Do not use aria-label as support is not great.

    Visually Hidden text (screen reader only text)

    Visually hidden text is not visible on the screen but will still be read by a screen reader.

    Please use the CSS class below as it has better compatibility than bootstrap sr-only class as explained in this answer I gave

    .visually-hidden { 
    border: 0;
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
    position: absolute !important;
    height: 1px; 
    width: 1px;
    overflow: hidden;
    clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); /* IE6, IE7 - a 0 height clip, off to the bottom right of the visible 1px box */
    clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); /*maybe deprecated but we need to support legacy browsers */
    clip-path: inset(50%); /*modern browsers, clip-path works inwards from each corner*/
    white-space: nowrap; /* added line to stop words getting smushed together (as they go onto seperate lines and some screen readers do not understand line feeds as a space */
}
    <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/test">
  <span class="visually-hidden">Visit our YouTube channel (opens in new tab)</span>
    <svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" data-prefix="fab" data-icon="youtube" class="svg-inline--fa fa-youtube fa-w-18 " role="img" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 576 512">
        <path fill="currentColor" d="M549.655 124.083c-6.281-23.65-24.787-42.276-48.284-48.597C458.781 64 288 64 288 64S117.22 64 74.629 75.486c-23.497 6.322-42.003 24.947-48.284 48.597-11.412 42.867-11.412 132.305-11.412 132.305s0 89.438 11.412 132.305c6.281 23.65 24.787 41.5 48.284 47.821C117.22 448 288 448 288 448s170.78 0 213.371-11.486c23.497-6.321 42.003-24.171 48.284-47.821 11.412-42.867 11.412-132.305 11.412-132.305s0-89.438-11.412-132.305zm-317.51 213.508V175.185l142.739 81.205-142.739 81.201z">
        </path>
    </svg>
</a>

    Add a <title> element to your SVG.

    The <title> element is effectively the same as alt on a normal image. Using this gives the screen reader something to announce.

    Obviously you would then remove the aria-hidden="true" from it so it can be read by a screen reader!

    Which is better?

    Go for visually hidden text.

    It works all the way back to IE6 which predates SVG!

    It also works in a text only browser (one that does not understand CSS) as it will still be displayed. It is an edge case but still a win for visually hidden text!