[IxDA Discuss] does color matter for hyperlinks

[Jim Drew]

>From: Chris Bobbett <cbobbett at gmail.com>
>
>Of the two elements typically used to denote a hyperlink (color and
>underline), I would say the underline is extremely important to link
>recognition. The color is less important.

I disagree.  What's important is the clear differentiation between the linked text and what is around it.  Underline and color together are better than either by themselves, but underline adds a lot more "noise" to a block of text.  A color differentiation -- something that is easy to see even for those with contrast and color-blindness problems -- makes for a better reading experience.

If it's a concern, have optional CSS available for your visitors.  If one needs the underlines, it should be easy enough to allow for that.  (That and define things in CSS to start with so they can use their own local CSS file rather than yours.  If they are a user who always needs underlining, they should have set thing up on their end to ensure it whenever they hit a compliant site.)


>I would take care to ensure you don't use the
>link color in other text elements, like a header, if they are NOT going to
>be hyperlinked. Try to reserve your chosen link color for links only.

Definite agreement there.  The identification method, whatever one is used, should be reserved only for actual linked text.

-- Jim