Fix an empty link error

For more information about how to fix empty link errors, examples, and related resources, visit our resolving empty link errors article.

Activity steps

In the content below, there is an empty link error. You’ll use the WAVE tool to find the error and the Inspect tool to fix it. If you have empty link errors on your website, you’ll need to update them in your website’s code or content management system.

1. Use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.
2. BONUS: Before you start, use tab to navigate the example content below. Notice how your keyboard focus indicator disappears on the empty link text above the text “Dr. Lewis George.”
3. Download the WAVE extension.
4. Use the WAVE extension to run WebAIM’s WAVE tool on this page.
5. Select the Details tab to see the empty link text error. It’s above the text “Dr. Lewis George.”
   
6. After reviewing the error, select the WAVE extension icon again to turn the WAVE tool off on this page. If you skip this step, you’ll lose your changes in the Inspect tool when you run WAVE again.

Now that you’ve run the WAVE tool, found the error, and turned the WAVE tool off, let’s fix it using Inspect. Remember, if you actually had this error, you would need to fix it in your website’s code or content management system.

1. Right click the words “Dr. Lewis George”, and select Inspect. Locate the empty link code two lines above the <strong> tag. It looks like this: <a href=”#”> </a>.
   
2. In the Inspect tool, right click the <a> tag with the empty link and select Edit as HTML.
3. Remove the entire <a> tag. So, the code <a href=”#”> </a> shoud be gone. Select outside the text box to apply the update.

Now, if you run the WAVE evaluation tool again, the error won’t be there. We just updated this in the inspect tool, so if you refresh the page, it’ll reset the code to have the error again.

You can use these steps to help you identify what’s going on and then make the update like we did here in your own website’s code.

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Here’s the example content to use with the steps above:

Faculty list