Accessibility fix guide
Button or Link Missing Accessible Name
Interactive elements (buttons, links) are missing an accessible name. Screen reader users cannot determine the purpose of these elements.
Issue ID: A11Y-ACCESSIBLE-NAME-001
Severity: major
Impact: High
Effort: S
Use this article when
- You need deeper remediation guidance than the issue card can show.
- You want CMS-specific steps before handing the fix to a developer.
- You want a repeatable re-check path after shipping the change.
What this issue is
Interactive elements (buttons, links) are missing an accessible name. Screen reader users cannot determine the purpose of these elements.
Why it matters
Interactive elements (buttons, links) are missing an accessible name. Screen reader users cannot determine the purpose of these elements. This affects usability, compliance risk, and how many visitors can successfully consume the page.
How we detect it
- FreeSiteAudit flags this issue when the rule for A11Y-ACCESSIBLE-NAME-001 fails and the page evidence points to Dom body.
- You can usually confirm this by checking the page source or the relevant page settings inside your CMS.
Evidence examples
Check the affected page source, rendered output, or relevant CMS setting to confirm the missing or incorrect element.
How to fix it
- 1Add descriptive text content to buttons and links
- 2Use aria-label for icon-only buttons
- 3Ensure image links have alt text on the image
- 4Avoid generic text like "Click here" or "Read more" without context
How to re-check it
- Use a screen reader or axe-core to confirm all interactive elements have accessible names
Related tools
This issue is best verified with the full FreeSiteAudit crawl rather than a single-point mini tool.