[IxDA Discuss] does color matter for hyperlinks

[Chris Bobbett]

On 2/27/07, Jim Drew <cfmdesigns at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 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.

I mostly agree with you Jim.

The noise created by underlines depends greatly on the density of links in a
given area. Increased link density, especially if underlined links, would
certainly create a lot of visual noise and may be detrimental to the
readability. Imagine a tag cloud with underlines!!!

While I agree that context around a link begins to set the stage for the
user, sometimes a link is simply floating in open space with little or no
context to help create that differentiation. So, no matter what the context,
whether in a body of text or floating in a header (i.e. log in link),
underlined text is MORE clear than non-underlined text. Without the
underline, the user may have some question, even if it's a minor question,
as to the expected behavior of that text. I'm not suggesting that removing
the underline will cause most users to stumble, but will require a tad more
thought and/or discovery on their part before they understand. This is
obviously splitting hairs, but the underlying question is HOW obvious do you
want to be with the user? Do we want them to know in a millisecond of seeing
a page every link on that page? And, of course, when you weigh this goal
(link recognition) with other goals (i.e. aesthetic considerations), you may
very well decide to remove the underline. It's not a deal breaker if
executed well. I personally tend to prefer solutions with more clarity
whenever possible.

Respectfully,
Chris