Some best practices for downloading links

  • Web
  • Intermediate

Update of the article from

There are different types of links: classic links allowing users to reach a new page, skip links allowing users to move within the page and finally those which are the focus of this article, the links allowing users to download a file.

A link to download a file should, for both accessibility and usability reasons, adhere to the following guidelines:

  • its title must be explicit and specify the file type and size
  • its title must specify the language of the document when it is written in a language different from that of the current page
  • this link must be created using a <a> tag (and not a <button> tag)
  • this link must open in the current window (avoid using the target attribute to open it in a new tab)

In addition, to improve accessibility and usability, providing this information will allow the user to avoid unnecessary downloads, which is also an eco-sustainable best practice.

Valid examples #

Here is an example of a link with the necessary information:

Download the complete review 2020 (PDF, 1.5 MB).

It is important that this additional information is present in the title of the link and not just after the link (especially for people who use a screen reader). That said, for aesthetic reasons, it is possible to ensure that the additional information is not underlined, for example:

Download the complete review 2020 (PDF, 1.5 MB)

About the units #

In English, the units used to express the size of the files are written in capital letters (KB, MB, GB...).

File language #

For the links allowing to download a document in a language other than that of the current page, it is important to specify it.

Examples of documents in French on an English site:

A small image for decoration, but not only #

If the file type is known, a small icon next to the file helps users identify it more quickly:
Complete review 2025 (PDF, 1.5 MB)
or
PDF file Complete review 2025 (1,5 MB)