How to handle broken links

How to handle broken links

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Issues that you mark as Fixed are still included in future scans and can be flagged again if the error persists. 

How to mark a broken link as Ignored with Content Quality

1. Log in to your Web Governance account.
2. Select the domain that you want to work with.
3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
4. Click Content Quality.
5. Click Broken Content.
6. Select Broken Links.
7. Click Action on the same row as the broken link.
8. Select Mark as ignored. This instructs the scan to ignore this broken link in future scans.

When to mark a broken link as ignored

Use this option:

• For link that are marked as broken when it is not.
• If you need to ignore a broken link on a single-page basis. 

How to repair a broken link with PageCorrect

This section provides instructions on how to findand repair broken links with PageCorrect.

1. Log in to your Web Governance account.
2. Select the domain that you want to work with.
3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
4. Click PageCorrect.
5. Select the Links tab.
6. Click Action on the same row as the link that you want to work with.
7. Select Update from the expanded menu. 
   • Select Remove if you know the link is correct and the error occurred due to, for example, a server outage at the time of the last scan. If the error persists, the system flags it again on the next scan.

8.  Enter the correct URL in the field provided. The URL must start with a protocol such as http://.

   Note

   All links that lead to the same destination are listed. The first five are displayed. If there are more than five, the full number of URLs is displayed. Click the number to expand them.

9. Click Save. This fixes the broken link in all instances throughout the website.
10. Make a note of the word and the location on the page and instruct the appropriate team to fix the broken link in the HTML code for the page.

For more information, visit the PageCorrect documentation collection.

How to handle a broken link with Prioritized Pages

List broken links, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the Prioritized Pages module.

1. Log in to your Web Governance account.
2. Select the domain that you want to work with.
3. Expand the left menu bar if the options are not visible.
4. Click Prioritized Pages.
5. Click the number in the Notifications column on the same row as the domain you want to work with. The menu expands with a breakdown of the notifications per category.
6. Click Broken links.
7. Click Action on the same row as the link you want to fix. The menu expands with the following options:
   • Set to Fixed: Use this option when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.

   • Mark as Ignored: Use this option if link is incorrectly marked as broken.

     Notes

     The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore:

     • Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans

     • Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error.

     Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.

     For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit Path constraints and link exclusions.

   • Select Inspect page with browser extension (Magnifying glass icon): Click to navigate to the Web Browser Extension view of the page, where it is possible to fix the highlighted link. Skip to Web Browser Extension instructions.

For more information, read the Prioritized pages document collection.

How to handle a broken link with the Web Browser Extension

Find broken links and their location, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the web browser extension.

1. Open the website and start the Web Browser Extension.
2. Click to select Content Issues (insect icon) on the web browser extension toolbar.
3. Select
   Quality Assurance
   in the expanded menu.
4. Click the arrow to expand the menu further. The issues list opens.
5. Click See Issues in the Broken Links / Broken Images section.
6. Mark as Fixed (checkmark icon): Click to mark the issue as fixed. Do this when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.

7. Mark as Ignored (eye with a line through it icon): Do this when the link is not broken, but flagged by the scan for an unknown reason.

   Notes

   The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore:

   • Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans

   • Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error.

   Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.

   For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit Path constraints and link exclusions.

8. HTML (</> icon): Click to view the location of the broken link within the page HTML code.

   Tip: Send this to the web development team, so that they can quickly find and repair the error within the HTML code.

9. Highlight (magnifying glass icon): Click to view the location of the broken link on the page.

   The page view scrolls to the location of the link and the broken link is highlighted.

For more information, read Web Browser Extension.

Examine links for accessibility issues

1. On the web browser extension toolbar, click to select Toolkit (tools icon).
2. Click to turn on the Links button to see a list of all links on the website.
3. Click on a link in the list to see the location on the website.

4. Hover the cursor over a link on the page for more information about it.

   See the following information about the link:

   • Link Text
   • Link Title
   • Link URL
   • Aria-label
   • Link Length
   • Link Target
5. Click on a link on the page to see the link behavior as a user experiences it.

For more information, visit Web Browser Extension.

Policies for links

It is sometimes necessary to set up a policy to tell the scan how to handle special or troublesome links. There are several pre-made links policies that you can use.

For more information, visit Policies for links.

Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again.

For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit Path constraints and link exclusions.