useLink

Provides the behavior and accessibility implementation for a link component. A link allows a user to navigate to another page or resource within a web page or application.

install	`yarn add react-aria`
version	3.29.1
usage	`import {useLink} from 'react-aria'`

View ARIA pattern

W3C

API#

useLink(
  (props: AriaLinkOptions,
  , ref: RefObject<FocusableElement>
)): LinkAria

Features#

Links can be created in HTML with the <a> element with an href attribute. However, if the link does not have an href, and is handled client side with JavaScript instead, it will not be exposed to assistive technology properly. useLink helps achieve accessible links with either native HTML elements or custom element types.

Support for mouse, touch, and keyboard interactions
Support for navigation links via <a> elements or custom element types via ARIA
Support for disabled links

Anatomy#

A link consists of a pressable area usually containing a textual label or an icon that users can click or tap to navigate to another page or resource. In addition, keyboard users may activate links using the Enter key.

useLink returns props to be spread onto the link element:

Name	Type	Description
`linkProps`	`DOMAttributes`	Props for the link element.
`isPressed`	`boolean`	Whether the link is currently pressed.

If a visual label is not provided (e.g. an icon or image only link), then an aria-label or aria-labelledby prop must be passed to identify the link to assistive technology.

Example#

This example shows a basic link using a native <a> element.

import {useLink} from 'react-aria';

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(null);
  let { linkProps } = useLink(props, ref);

  return (
    <a
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{ color: 'var(--blue)' }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </a>
  );
}

<Link href="https://adobe.com" target="_blank">Adobe</Link>

import {useLink} from 'react-aria';

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(null);
  let { linkProps } = useLink(props, ref);

  return (
    <a
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{ color: 'var(--blue)' }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </a>
  );
}

<Link href="https://adobe.com" target="_blank">
  Adobe
</Link>

import {useLink} from 'react-aria';

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(
    null
  );
  let { linkProps } =
    useLink(props, ref);

  return (
    <a
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color:
          'var(--blue)'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </a>
  );
}

<Link
  href="https://adobe.com"
  target="_blank"
>
  Adobe
</Link>

Client handled links#

This example shows a client handled link using press events. It sets elementType to span so that useLink returns the proper ARIA attributes to expose the element as a link to assistive technology.

In addition, this example shows usage of the isPressed value returned by useLink to properly style the links's active state. You could use the CSS :active pseudo class for this, but isPressed properly handles when the user drags their pointer off of the link, along with keyboard support and better touch screen support.

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(null);
  let { linkProps, isPressed } = useLink(
    { ...props, elementType: 'span' },
    ref
  );

  return (
    <span
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color: isPressed
          ? 'var(--blue)'
          : 'var(--spectrum-global-color-blue-700)',
        textDecoration: 'underline',
        cursor: 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </span>
  );
}

<Link onPress={() => alert('Pressed link')}>Adobe</Link>

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(null);
  let { linkProps, isPressed } = useLink(
    { ...props, elementType: 'span' },
    ref
  );

  return (
    <span
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color: isPressed
          ? 'var(--blue)'
          : 'var(--spectrum-global-color-blue-700)',
        textDecoration: 'underline',
        cursor: 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </span>
  );
}

<Link onPress={() => alert('Pressed link')}>Adobe</Link>

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(
    null
  );
  let {
    linkProps,
    isPressed
  } = useLink({
    ...props,
    elementType: 'span'
  }, ref);

  return (
    <span
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color: isPressed
          ? 'var(--blue)'
          : 'var(--spectrum-global-color-blue-700)',
        textDecoration:
          'underline',
        cursor: 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </span>
  );
}

<Link
  onPress={() =>
    alert(
      'Pressed link'
    )}
>
  Adobe
</Link>

Disabled links#

A link can be disabled by passing the isDisabled property. This will work with both native link elements as well as client handled links. Native navigation will be disabled, and the onPress event will not be fired. The link will be exposed as disabled to assistive technology with ARIA.

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(null);
  let { linkProps } = useLink(props, ref);

  return (
    <a
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color: props.isDisabled ? 'var(--gray)' : 'var(--blue)',
        cursor: props.isDisabled ? 'default' : 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </a>
  );
}

<Link href="https://adobe.com" target="_blank" isDisabled>Disabled link</Link>

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(null);
  let { linkProps } = useLink(props, ref);

  return (
    <a
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color: props.isDisabled
          ? 'var(--gray)'
          : 'var(--blue)',
        cursor: props.isDisabled ? 'default' : 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </a>
  );
}

<Link href="https://adobe.com" target="_blank" isDisabled>
  Disabled link
</Link>

function Link(props) {
  let ref = React.useRef(
    null
  );
  let { linkProps } =
    useLink(props, ref);

  return (
    <a
      {...linkProps}
      ref={ref}
      style={{
        color:
          props
              .isDisabled
            ? 'var(--gray)'
            : 'var(--blue)',
        cursor:
          props
              .isDisabled
            ? 'default'
            : 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {props.children}
    </a>
  );
}

<Link
  href="https://adobe.com"
  target="_blank"
  isDisabled
>
  Disabled link
</Link>

Name	Type	Default	Description
`isDisabled`	`boolean`	—	Whether the link is disabled.
`elementType`	`string`	`'a'`	The HTML element used to render the link, e.g. 'a', or 'span'.
`onPress`	`( (e: PressEvent )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when the press is released over the target.
`onPressStart`	`( (e: PressEvent )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when a press interaction starts.
`onPressEnd`	`( (e: PressEvent )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when a press interaction ends, either over the target or when the pointer leaves the target.
`onPressChange`	`( (isPressed: boolean )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when the press state changes.
`onPressUp`	`( (e: PressEvent )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when a press is released over the target, regardless of whether it started on the target or not.
`autoFocus`	`boolean`	—	Whether the element should receive focus on render.
`onFocus`	`( (e: FocusEvent<Target> )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when the element receives focus.
`onBlur`	`( (e: FocusEvent<Target> )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when the element loses focus.
`onFocusChange`	`( (isFocused: boolean )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when the element's focus status changes.
`onKeyDown`	`( (e: KeyboardEvent )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when a key is pressed.
`onKeyUp`	`( (e: KeyboardEvent )) => void`	—	Handler that is called when a key is released.
`href`	`string`	—	A URL to link to. See MDN.
`target`	`HTMLAttributeAnchorTarget`	—	The target window for the link. See MDN.
`rel`	`string`	—	The relationship between the linked resource and the current page. See MDN.
`download`	`boolean \| string`	—	Causes the browser to download the linked URL. A string may be provided to suggest a file name. See MDN.
`ping`	`string`	—	A space-separated list of URLs to ping when the link is followed. See MDN.
`referrerPolicy`	`HTMLAttributeReferrerPolicy`	—	How much of the referrer to send when following the link. See MDN.
`aria-label`	`string`	—	Defines a string value that labels the current element.
`aria-labelledby`	`string`	—	Identifies the element (or elements) that labels the current element.
`aria-describedby`	`string`	—	Identifies the element (or elements) that describes the object.
`aria-details`	`string`	—	Identifies the element (or elements) that provide a detailed, extended description for the object.

Properties

Name	Type	Description
`type`	`'pressstart' \| 'pressend' \| 'pressup' \| 'press'`	The type of press event being fired.
`pointerType`	`PointerType`	The pointer type that triggered the press event.
`target`	`Element`	The target element of the press event.
`shiftKey`	`boolean`	Whether the shift keyboard modifier was held during the press event.
`ctrlKey`	`boolean`	Whether the ctrl keyboard modifier was held during the press event.
`metaKey`	`boolean`	Whether the meta keyboard modifier was held during the press event.
`altKey`	`boolean`	Whether the alt keyboard modifier was held during the press event.

Methods

Method	Description
`continuePropagation(): void`	By default, press events stop propagation to parent elements. In cases where a handler decides not to handle a specific event, it can call `continuePropagation()` to allow a parent to handle it.

'mouse'
  | 'pen'
  | 'touch'
  | 'keyboard'
  | 'virtual'

BaseEvent<ReactKeyboardEvent<any>>

SyntheticEvent & {stopPropagation: () => void,
continuePropagation: () => void
}

Name	Type	Description
`linkProps`	`DOMAttributes`	Props for the link element.
`isPressed`	`boolean`	Whether the link is currently pressed.

All DOM attributes supported across both HTML and SVG elements.

Extends: AriaAttributes, ReactDOMAttributes

Name	Type	Description
`id`	`string \| undefined`
`role`	`AriaRole \| undefined`
`tabIndex`	`number \| undefined`
`style`	`CSSProperties \| undefined`
`className`	`string \| undefined`