WCAG 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only): What It Means and How to Test It

Anton StewartAuthor Reviewed September 28, 2026 against the W3C Understanding document

What WCAG 2.4.9 Requires

AAA only: a link's purpose can be determined from its link text alone, without needing the surrounding context that 2.4.4 (AA) allows.

Yes. AccessBell's scanner runs axe-core, which includes 1 rule that catch code-level failures of this criterion:

identical-links-same-purpose — Ensure that links with the same accessible name serve a similar purpose (details (opens in a new tab))

List every link's text alone, with no surrounding sentence, and confirm its destination is still clear.

A "Read more" link only makes sense with the paragraph text around it, which fails the stricter AAA standard even though it may pass AA.

What does WCAG 2.4.9 require?

AAA only: a link's purpose can be determined from its link text alone, without needing the surrounding context that 2.4.4 (AA) allows.

Can AccessBell test WCAG 2.4.9 automatically?

Yes. AccessBell runs 1 automated rule that can catch failures of this criterion.

What level is WCAG 2.4.9?

Level AAA, added in WCAG 2.0. Level AAA is the highest, most demanding conformance level in WCAG.

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