Section 508 - Empty Links

Summary

A link contains no text.

An anchor element has an href attribute, but contains no text (or only spaces) and no images with alternative text. The purpose of each link (or form image button or image map hotspot) can be determined from the link text alone, or from the link text and its context (e.g., surrounding paragraph, list item, table cell, or table headers). Links (or form image buttons) with the same text that go to different locations are readily distinguishable.

Empty links on the main dashboard:

• <a class="aui-button aui-button-subtle aui-sidebar-toggle aui-sidebar-footer-tipsy" data-tooltip="Expand sidebar ( [ )" href="#"><span class="aui-icon aui-icon-small"></a>
• <a href="javascript:;" id="fancybox-left"><span class="fancy-ico" id="fancybox-left-ico"></a>
• <a href="javascript:;" id="fancybox-right"><span class="fancy-ico" id="fancybox-right-ico"></a>

Why It Matters

If a link contains no text, the function or purpose of the link will not be presented to the user. This can introduce confusion for keyboard and screen reader users.
How to Fix It
Remove the empty link or provide text within the link that describes the functionality and/or target of that link.

Reference

https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist#sc2.4.4