diff --git a/icu4c/readme.html b/icu4c/readme.html
index 368360f9734..abc14ebabdd 100644
--- a/icu4c/readme.html
+++ b/icu4c/readme.html
@@ -744,9 +744,9 @@
     <ul>
       <li>Microsoft Windows</li>
 
-      <li>Microsoft Visual C++ (see the ICU download page for the currently compatible version)</li>
+      <li>Microsoft Visual C++ (part of <a href="https://www.visualstudio.com/">Visual Studio</a>) (see the ICU download page for the currently compatible version)</li>
       
-      <li><i><b>Optional:</b></i> A version of the Windows 10 SDK (if you want to build the UWP projects)</li>
+      <li><i><b>Optional:</b></i> A version of the <a href="https://developer.microsoft.com/windows/downloads">Windows 10 SDK</a> (if you want to build the UWP projects)</li>
     </ul>
         <p class="note"><a href="#HowToBuildCygwin">Cygwin</a> is required if using a version of MSVC other than the one
         compatible with the supplied project files or if other compilers are used to build ICU. (e.g. GCC)</p>