WP Bakery Page Builder - Add URL option to make entire column clickable - Updated 22 June 2023

functions.php

<?php

/* add this to your theme's functions.php file */

/* Add option for URL to column settings */

vc_add_param("vc_column", array(
    "type" => "vc_link",
	"class" => "",
	"heading" => "Column Link",
	"param_name" => "column_link"
));

/* Add option for URL to column_inner settings */

vc_add_param("vc_column_inner", array(
    "type" => "vc_link",
	"class" => "",
	"heading" => "Column Link",
	"param_name" => "column_link"
));

?>

vc_column.php

<?php

/* place this file in [your-theme]/vc_templates/ */

if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
	die( '-1' );
}

/* This file modifies the vc_column output to accomodate the otional URL parameter */

/**
 * Shortcode attributes
 * @var $atts
 * @var $el_id
 * @var $el_class
 * @var $width
 * @var $css
 * @var $offset
 * @var $content - shortcode content
 * @var $css_animation
 * Shortcode class
 * @var WPBakeryShortCode_Vc_Column $this
 */
$el_class = $el_id = $width = $parallax_speed_bg = $parallax_speed_video = $parallax = $parallax_image = $video_bg = $video_bg_url = $video_bg_parallax = $css = $offset = $css_animation = '';
$output = '';
$atts = vc_map_get_attributes( $this->getShortcode(), $atts );
extract( $atts );

wp_enqueue_script( 'wpb_composer_front_js' );

$width = wpb_translateColumnWidthToSpan( $width );
$width = vc_column_offset_class_merge( $offset, $width );

$css_classes = array(
	$this->getExtraClass( $el_class ) . $this->getCSSAnimation( $css_animation ),
	'wpb_column',
	'vc_column_container',
	$width,
);

if ( vc_shortcode_custom_css_has_property( $css, array(
	'border',
	'background',
) ) || $video_bg || $parallax
) {
	$css_classes[] = 'vc_col-has-fill';
}

$wrapper_attributes = array();

$has_video_bg = ( ! empty( $video_bg ) && ! empty( $video_bg_url ) && vc_extract_youtube_id( $video_bg_url ) );

$parallax_speed = $parallax_speed_bg;
if ( $has_video_bg ) {
	$parallax = $video_bg_parallax;
	$parallax_speed = $parallax_speed_video;
	$parallax_image = $video_bg_url;
	$css_classes[] = 'vc_video-bg-container';
	wp_enqueue_script( 'vc_youtube_iframe_api_js' );
}

if ( ! empty( $parallax ) ) {
	wp_enqueue_script( 'vc_jquery_skrollr_js' );
	$wrapper_attributes[] = 'data-vc-parallax="' . esc_attr( $parallax_speed ) . '"'; // parallax speed
	$css_classes[] = 'vc_general vc_parallax vc_parallax-' . $parallax;
	if ( false !== strpos( $parallax, 'fade' ) ) {
		$css_classes[] = 'js-vc_parallax-o-fade';
		$wrapper_attributes[] = 'data-vc-parallax-o-fade="on"';
	} elseif ( false !== strpos( $parallax, 'fixed' ) ) {
		$css_classes[] = 'js-vc_parallax-o-fixed';
	}
}

if ( ! empty( $parallax_image ) ) {
	if ( $has_video_bg ) {
		$parallax_image_src = $parallax_image;
	} else {
		$parallax_image_id = preg_replace( '/[^\d]/', '', $parallax_image );
		$parallax_image_src = wp_get_attachment_image_src( $parallax_image_id, 'full' );
		if ( ! empty( $parallax_image_src[0] ) ) {
			$parallax_image_src = $parallax_image_src[0];
		}
	}
	$wrapper_attributes[] = 'data-vc-parallax-image="' . esc_attr( $parallax_image_src ) . '"';
}
if ( ! $parallax && $has_video_bg ) {
	$wrapper_attributes[] = 'data-vc-video-bg="' . esc_attr( $video_bg_url ) . '"';
}

$css_class = preg_replace( '/\s+/', ' ', apply_filters( VC_SHORTCODE_CUSTOM_CSS_FILTER_TAG, implode( ' ', array_filter( $css_classes ) ), $this->settings['base'], $atts ) );
$wrapper_attributes[] = 'class="' . esc_attr( trim( $css_class ) ) . '"';
if ( ! empty( $el_id ) ) {
	$wrapper_attributes[] = 'id="' . esc_attr( $el_id ) . '"';
}
$output .= '<div ' . implode( ' ', $wrapper_attributes ) . '>';
$innerColumnClass = 'vc_column-inner ' . esc_attr( trim( vc_shortcode_custom_css_class( $css ) ) );
$output .= '<div class="' . trim( $innerColumnClass ) . '">';

/* Inserted to check whether a link is present in the settings */
if( !empty($column_link) ){
    $column_link_array = vc_build_link($column_link);
    $column_link = esc_url($column_link_array['url']);
    $column_target = $column_link_array['target'];
    $column_rel = $column_link_array['rel'];
    $column_title = $column_link_array['title'];
    $output .= "<a href='$column_link' ";
    $output .= ( $column_target == '_blank' ) ? "target='_blank' " : '';
    $output .= ( $column_rel == 'nofollow' ) ? "rel='nofollow' " : '';
    $output .= ( $column_title !== '' ) ? "title='$column_title' " : '';
    $output .= "class='big_link' style='position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999;'aria-hidden='true'></a>";
}
/* End Changes - Resume base code */

$output .= '<div class="wpb_wrapper">';
$output .= wpb_js_remove_wpautop( $content );
$output .= '</div>';
$output .= '</div>';
$output .= '</div>';

echo $output;

vc_column_inner.php

<?php

/* place this file in [your-theme]/vc_templates/ */

if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
	die( '-1' );
}

/* This file modifies the vc_column_inner output to accomodate the otional URL parameter */

/**
 * Shortcode attributes
 * @var $atts
 * @var $el_class
 * @var $el_id
 * @var $width
 * @var $css
 * @var $offset
 * @var $content - shortcode content
 * Shortcode class
 * @var WPBakeryShortCode_Vc_Column_Inner $this
 */
$el_class = $width = $el_id = $css = $offset = '';
$output = '';
$atts = vc_map_get_attributes( $this->getShortcode(), $atts );
extract( $atts );

$width = wpb_translateColumnWidthToSpan( $width );
$width = vc_column_offset_class_merge( $offset, $width );

$css_classes = array(
	$this->getExtraClass( $el_class ),
	'wpb_column',
	'vc_column_container',
	$width,
);

if ( vc_shortcode_custom_css_has_property( $css, array(
	'border',
	'background',
) ) ) {
	$css_classes[] = 'vc_col-has-fill';
}

$wrapper_attributes = array();

$css_class = preg_replace( '/\s+/', ' ', apply_filters( VC_SHORTCODE_CUSTOM_CSS_FILTER_TAG, implode( ' ', array_filter( $css_classes ) ), $this->settings['base'], $atts ) );
$wrapper_attributes[] = 'class="' . esc_attr( trim( $css_class ) ) . '"';
if ( ! empty( $el_id ) ) {
	$wrapper_attributes[] = 'id="' . esc_attr( $el_id ) . '"';
}
$output .= '<div ' . implode( ' ', $wrapper_attributes ) . '>';
$innerColumnClass = 'vc_column-inner ' . esc_attr( trim( vc_shortcode_custom_css_class( $css ) ) );
$output .= '<div class="' . trim( $innerColumnClass ) . '">';

/* Inserted to check whether a link is present in the settings */
if( !empty($column_link) ){
    $column_link_array = vc_build_link($column_link);
    $column_link = esc_url($column_link_array['url']);
    $column_target = $column_link_array['target'];
    $column_rel = $column_link_array['rel'];
    $column_title = $column_link_array['title'];
    $output .= "<a href='$column_link' ";
    $output .= ( $column_target == '_blank' ) ? "target='_blank' " : '';
    $output .= ( $column_rel == 'nofollow' ) ? "rel='nofollow' " : '';
    $output .= ( $column_title !== '' ) ? "title='$column_title' " : '';
    $output .= "class='big_link' style='position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;z-index:9999;'aria-hidden='true'></a>";
}
/* End Changes - Resume base code */

$output .= '<div class="wpb_wrapper">';
$output .= wpb_js_remove_wpautop( $content );
$output .= '</div>';
$output .= '</div>';
$output .= '</div>';

echo $output;

Is this still working on version 8.5? I've used it for years, but suddenly it stopped working..

I have a site with 8.5, still working.
One question: What's the purpose of the aria="hidden" in this case? Some accessibility checkers mark this as an error because "ARIA hidden element must not be focusable or contain focusable elements". The contents of the linked column is just an image and a short text.