Why is this so bad, and what do you suggest as an alternative?

Original: If you have Safari, you can try it [here].

Better: If you have Safari, [you can try it].

Best: [Try it on Safari].

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Original: The tuning code can be found [here]. The basic idea is...

Better: The [tuning code is available]. The basic idea is...

Best: The basic idea of the [tuning code] is...

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See how explicit it is? How it reads better, but also how anyone scanning the blue links immediately gets an idea of the link's destination? Do you prefer reading things in two steps or one? This way, the link text informs, rather than being a reference back to previous text.

Say I’m using a screen reader and am skimming through the links. I want to hear something like this:

“Link, WebGPU demo. Link, tuning code.”

Instead, I will hear this:

“Link, here. Link, here.”

This is not very useful.

No, you'll hear "Try the WebGPU demo; link, here".

I said skimming through the links. When you’re reading the whole text the difference isn’t so big (though I’d still prefer “link, try the WebGPU demo” to “try the WebGPU demo, link, here”), but it’s common to navigate through documents by heading or by link. (Related: all desktop browsers support navigating through the document by link/form field with the Tab key.)

Imagine also reading through the whole document and then deciding you want to click on one of the links. You’ll execute an action like “back to last link”, and the screen reader will announce “link, here”. Now which link was that? And so you’ll have to ask it to read the whole line before you find out, which really slows you down.

Explain. I like to do it

Numerous reasons: https://www.wordpress-web-designer-raleigh.com/2015/04/4-rea...

It's indirect communication. It reminds me of Windows "OK" boxes vs. OS X "Save". The linked text should describe the contents of the link, like a label. It's more readable (since link text is styled differently) when skimming the text and removes an extraneous phrase from the prose. Have you ever seen an NYTimes article use "here" as link text? No, they just write, and link the relevant words.

Thanks, that’s a good article and apologies for the belated reply.

I still think there is a place for “click here”, I think of it as introducing some stupidity to the page - a very easy action that helps ease people’s mind - having too much information density can also get overbearing. I might sound crazy but I think there’s a place for dumbing down at times! Of course, it should be used very selectively. I would also be annoyed if WikiPedia was full of click here’s. To me 1 or 2 maximum per page