Error “Links do not have a discernible name” in Lighthouse

While checking your website with tools like Lighthouse or PageSpeed Insights, you may receive a “Links do not have a discernible name” warning. In this article, we will learn about these errors and how to fix them to enhance user experience and improve website scores on performance measurement tools.

What is the error "Links do not have a discernible name"?

The “Links do not have a discernible name” error is one of the most common errors reported in performance measurement tools like Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights. It usually appears when a link has no text content or only contains insignificant characters like “click here”.

An error related to Accessibility (user experience, accessibility) in Lighthouse / PageSpeed ​​Insights.

In this case the error is caused by the absence of the image alt (alternative text). The purpose is that when the image, button, icon fails to load, the alternative text will be displayed.

How to fix

To fix the “Links do not have a discernible name” error, you need to ensure that each link on your site has clear text content and accurately describes the content of that link. Here are some ways to fix this error:

1. Name the link according to its content: Use words or phrases that accurately describe the link's content to create a name for the link. For example: “Read more about product X” instead of “Click here to read more”.
2. Use the “title” and “aria-label” attributes: Use these attributes to provide more information about the link's content to users when they hover over the link without clicking.
   For example: <a href="#" title="Đọc thêm về sản phẩm X">Đọc thêm</a>.
3. If you use images or icons to create links, make sure they have “alt” and “aria-label” attributes to provide information to users about the content of the link.

I use Wordpress so just go to "media” -> “edit” -> fill “Alternative Text" is to be.

<img alt='alt image'>
<a aria-label='aria label icon'></a>
<button aria-label="aria label button"></button>

See more at: Labels and text alternatives.

Conclude

The error “Links do not have a discernible name” can affect user experience and cause a website's score to decrease on performance measurement tools. However, it can easily be fixed by naming the links according to their content or using the “title” and “aria-label” attributes to provide more information to the user. Through this article, we hope you have a clear understanding of the error "Links do not have a discernible name" and how to fix them.