Speed test and ambiguous link texts

TL;DR

In general - subjectively - the quality of the link texts is low. It is not always clear what kind of page a link refers to.

There are 8 out of 28 speed tests with ambiguous link texts. Most speed tests of the top 10 speed tests don't have ambiguous links. These speed test are:

  1. Cloudflare
  2. Google Fiber
  3. Internet Speed at a Glance
  4. M-Lab
  5. Meter.net
  6. Ookla Speedtest
  7. SpeedOf.me

There are speed tests with a long list of links with language codes. This can prevent optimal use of screen readers.

 

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Method of measurement
  3. Speed tests to test
  4. The measurements
  5. Conclusions
 

Introduction

Ambiguous link texts is mentioned as one of the 12 Common Web Accessibility Issues for the Visually Impaired.

In WeBAIM's 7th screenreader survey is was concluded that the top 3 of problematic items is:

  1. CAPTCHA - Images presenting text used to verify that you are a human user
  2. Unexpected screen changes - Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly
  3. Ambiguous links/buttons - Links or buttons that do not make sense

In earliers tests the questions were Have speed tests empty links? and Have speed tests empty buttons?

In this test, if a link text is used, we investigate whether there is an ambiguous link text.

 

Method of measurement

For this test we use ZOMDir's Page inspector (with the "Links" view, the Anchor text block).

The test is invoked immediately after loading the homepage. When a speed test starts automatically, the test is started when the test is completed.

For this test we count the number of links that have a text that is considered as ambiguous. These texts are very generic and something like Click Here and Read More.

 

Speed tests to test

Because this is a relative simple test, the unique speed tests as collected at ZOMDir will be tested.

 

The measurements

If ambiguous link texts are used in a speed test, a few examples will be mentioned after the speed test.

  1. Astound speedtest has no ambiguous link texts
  2. Bandwidth Place List
  3. Bredbandskollen has no ambiguous link texts
  4. Broadband Internet Speed test (Gone) has no ambiguous link texts
  5. Broadband Speed Checker has no ambiguous link texts
  6. Cloudflare has no ambiguous link texts
  7. Comparitech See all, More info
  8. DSLReports Info, More.., food
  9. Fast Show more info
  10. Fireprobe Read more...
  11. Google Fiber has no ambiguous link texts
  12. Internet Speed at a Glance has no ambiguous link texts
  13. LibreSpeed has no ambiguous link texts
  14. M-Lab has no ambiguous link texts
  15. Meter.net has no ambiguous link texts
  16. N Perf has no ambiguous link texts
  17. Ookla Speedtest has no ambiguous link texts
  18. Open Speed Test has no ambiguous link texts
  19. SamKnows has no ambiguous link texts
  20. SpeedCheck has no ambiguous link texts
  21. SpeedOf.me has no ambiguous link texts
  22. SpeedOf.me API Sample Page has no ambiguous link texts
  23. SpeedSmart Auto
  24. Speedtest4.PHP not possible to test
  25. TestMy.net Read more, Read more →
  26. Toast has no ambiguous link texts
  27. Which Broadband Speed Test has no ambiguous link texts
  28. Xfinity xFi Speed Test has no ambiguous link texts

Some examples

Note that Open Speed Test uses several long anchor texts like:

  1. About our broadband speed test We are using the latest technology available to test your Bandwidth. This application is designed for testing any connection, from 1 Kbps to 1 Gbps+. Our algorithm automatically detects your stable download and upload speed from our servers. We use HTML5! And no flash or Java used, so you also get a better understanding of your web browser too .....
  2. How to increase internet speed? How to Increase internet speed by 2x. A guide for getting more out of your internet connection before switching broadband plans or Internet service provider. This simple tips can improve your Wifi, DSL, ADSL, Mobile Broadband 3G, 4G LTE, WiMax, Fibre, Satellite broadband etc. Increase Your Broadband Speed Now! With Our Expert Advice and Free Tips.....
  3. SELF-HOSTED SPEEDTEST For large-scale deployments, Self-hosted/On-Premise HTML5 Network Speed Test. You can download the source code and config your own server or use our Docker Image. Create speed test for your infrastructure. This tool can be used to check the browser performance and impact of Extensions on your browsing experience or when troubleshooting network issues.....
  4. SPEEDTEST FOR HOME SpeedTest for Home or Small Office LAN. Standalone Application for Desktop and Mobile users. An application for launching HTML5 Network Speed Test Server. You can test download & upload speed from any device within your network with a web browser that is IE10 or new. Available for download for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.....

SpeedCheck uses also Unicode country flags in the link text (although the W3C states Don't use flags to indicate languages!). Anchor texts used are for example:

  1. 🇦🇺 English (Australia)
  2. 🇵🇭 English (Philippines)
  3. 🇺🇸 English (USA)
  4. 🇦🇷 Español (Argentina)
  5. 🇪🇸 Español (España)
  6. 🇮🇹 Italiano (Italia)
  7. 🇨🇭 Italiano (Svizzera)
  8. 🇦🇴 Português (Angola)
  9. 🇵🇹 Português (Portugal)
  10. 🇯🇵 日本語 (日本)
  11. 🇹🇭 อังกฤษ (ประเทศไทย)

There are several speed test that use language codes like CS, DE, EN, ES, HU, JA, KO, PL etcetera as link text. In WeBAIM's 7th screenreader survey Too many links or navigation items is mentioned as a problematic item. Perhaps such a list of language codes does more harm than good. A follow-up test looks at how many links there are per speed test.

 

Conclusions

In general, but this is extremely subjective, more attention could be paid to the link text. It is often not clear from the link text what kind of page the link refers to.

There are 8 out of 28 speed tests with ambiguous link texts. Of the top 10 speed tests, TestMy.net, SpeedSmart and Fast have one or more ambiguous link texts.