WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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RE: CSS link backgrounds

for

From: Paul Bohman
Date: Jul 8, 2002 12:17PM

WebAIM did not implement this only for accessibility purposes. At the
time the site was designed, it was done more for the style and
"artistic" effect, if you want to call it that. Still, we were aware
that such effects may be of benefit to those with low vision, or even to
the general population, because links are more easily identified as
such. The links become more obvious. Visual cues can be useful when used
properly.

If you're wondering about the choice of yellow versus some other color,
we chose yellow because of it is an eye-catching color that stands out
against most backgrounds. We could have chosen orange or red, or some
other color (assuming that the text is still readable when the
highlighted color shows up), but yellow seemed to work better with our
color scheme on the site, and its usage, as you pointed out, is fairly
common.

Paul Bohman
Technology Coordinator
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)
www.webaim.org
Center for Persons with Disabilities
www.cpd.usu.edu
Utah State University
www.usu.edu




-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Trott [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, July 08, 2002 12:22 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: CSS link backgrounds


Hi. What is the purpose of the yellow backgrounds for links (like on
the WebAIM homepage and, I believe, the CAST homepage)? I have searched
for info about this but haven't found any. Is it an accessibility issue
or is just to make navigation be more clear? I like it but I know that
people are going to ask me why I did it if I