WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Color of link text

for

From: Guy Hickling
Date: Jul 8, 2016 6:09PM

I think the solution for mobiles is easy enough. It just needs a media
query, as used in responsive development, to detect small screens
(everything from tablet size or less) and have it underline all links
on them. (As usual we can except those links, such as menu options,
that have other clear indication of them being links.) The query would
be:

@media all and (max-width: 1000px) {
a:link, a:visited { text-decoration : underline }
}

The difficulty might be getting everyone to accept and apply this as a
necessary part of accessibility even though not specified in the WCAG.
Really, G183 ought to be rewritten to include a requirement for links
to be underlined, in their unvisited and visited states, on anything
with a screen small enough that it is likely to be a tablet or mobile.
And it could include an example with a media query like the above.
That way underline-hating designers can have their wicked way on
desktops but, being allowed that, maybe they wouldn't mind quite so
much if underlines appear on their mobile designs!

I realise of course that there is a somewhat blurred boundary in
screen sizes between tablets and desktops, so the above 1000px is
necessarily very arbitrary. But this approach would cater for the vast
majority of touch screen devices. I've pitched the figure quite high
as it would be better to have underlines appear on a few small
desktops rather than no underlining on many larger touch screens.

Regards,
Guy Hickling
http://www.enigmaticweb.com