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Rules / technical writing

TEC-016 Hard constraint layer: phrase

Links describe destination or action

IF link text is generic, duplicated, or meaningful only from surrounding visual position, THEN replace it with a concise destination or action ELSE retain.

Why the rule exists

Descriptive links remain understandable when scanned or announced out of context.

Condition

The rule fires when this evaluates true. Paths marked below must be present in the fact base; the engine reports the rest rather than guessing them.

  • ANY
    • link.text in [click here, read more, here, more]
    • link.text_duplicate_destinations eq true
    • link.depends_on_visual_position eq true

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
link.text You supply it
link.text_duplicate_destinations You supply it
link.depends_on_visual_position You supply it

Then

  1. replace — target link.text, value from destination_or_action

Else

  1. retain — target current_text, No triggering condition is present.

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • Writing for Web Accessibility — W3C Web Accessibility Initiative link
    Clear structure, descriptive labels, alternatives, and understandable content.
  • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 — W3C link
    Testable accessibility requirements for web content.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 15-technical-writing-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/TEC-016.

{
  "id": "TEC-016",
  "name": "Links describe destination or action",
  "domain": "technical_writing",
  "layer": "phrase",
  "strength": "hard_constraint",
  "human_logic": "IF link text is generic, duplicated, or meaningful only from surrounding visual position, THEN replace it with a concise destination or action ELSE retain.",
  "when": {
    "any": [
      {
        "path": "link.text",
        "operator": "in",
        "value": [
          "click here",
          "read more",
          "here",
          "more"
        ]
      },
      {
        "path": "link.text_duplicate_destinations",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      },
      {
        "path": "link.depends_on_visual_position",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      }
    ]
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "replace",
      "target": "link.text",
      "value_from": "destination_or_action"
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Descriptive links remain understandable when scanned or announced out of context.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "WEB-005",
    "WEB-007"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other technical writing rules

  1. TEC-001 Choose an information type IF a technical topic is being created, THEN classify it as concept, task, reference, troubleshooting, glossary, or mixed with explicit boundaries ELSE do not draft a generic blob. Hard constraint
  2. TEC-002 Concept answers what and why IF the reader asks what something is or why it matters, THEN use a concept topic with definition, model, relationship, boundary, and example ELSE select another type. Context default
  3. TEC-003 Task answers how to achieve a goal IF the reader wants to achieve an outcome, THEN use a task topic with goal, prerequisites, steps, results, recovery, and verification ELSE select another type. Context default
  4. TEC-004 Reference supports lookup IF the reader needs facts about an entity or interface, THEN use stable repeated fields, valid values, defaults, constraints, examples, and links ELSE select another type. Context default
  5. TEC-005 Prerequisites before steps IF a task requires permissions, state, tools, knowledge, inputs, or safety conditions, THEN list them before step 1 ELSE state that none are required only when useful. Hard constraint
  6. TEC-006 Imperative starts the step IF the reader performs a procedural action, THEN start with a specific imperative verb and name the object ELSE name the actual actor. Context default
  7. TEC-007 Expected result follows uncertain action IF a step’s success is not self-evident, THEN state the observable result immediately after it ELSE retain. Context default
  8. TEC-008 Recovery follows known failure IF a step has a common or consequential failure mode, THEN provide symptom, cause or check, corrective action, and verification ELSE retain. Context default