broken link or broken graphic

A link that no longer works or a graphic that does not appear when a Web page loads are said to be broken. In other words, when a link is "clicked on" and it does not take you to the correct destination, but instead an error message appears, the link is broken. When an image doesn't load, and instead you see the alt text or some generic icon shapes, it's a broken graphic. Broken links and broken graphics occur for several reasons: the server hosting the Web site has shut down temporarily or has been restarted; the Web site has moved to an entirely new server; the file or files have been moved or deleted; or the HTML code is incorrect.