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Re: CSS link backgrounds

for

From: Terence de Giere
Date: Jul 8, 2002 8:57PM

Regarding link backgrounds, we should always remember that someone may
need some other method to make links visually more distinct. Although
the color blue is not an ideal color for links, but because it is an
entrenched browser default, using a blue link is the most recognizable
color for a link. Same with the link underline. This has been a browser
default, but at least one browser, Opera, starts with a default of not
underlining links, and leaves it for the document to supply the
underline via CSS, unless the user decides to override this default.

Opera also allows the user to supply his or her own style sheet to
change anything they want by overriding the document styles. Opera
allows the user to put a border around a link as one of the user
controls, which may help if a user is tabbing through on the keyboard.

CSS visual styling does not come across at all in audio, or in any
browser that does not support CSS. An aural CSS stylesheet could provide
a clue to distinguish a link, if supported by the browser. IBM Home Page
Reader presents most HTML elements in a default male voice, but by
default presents links in a female voice.

There are many ways to distinguish links so they stand out for the user,
but some users will always need something different from what the design
of the page provides, and it is for the browser vendors to incorporate
easy-to-use and effective overrides to provide that flexibility.

Terence de Giere
<EMAIL REMOVED>



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