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From: Delisi, Jennie (MNIT)
Date: Tue, Aug 11 2015 3:23PM
Subject: visited hyperlink text color
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Hi,
Does anyone know the visited hyperlink colors for email?
I am interested in finding out the RGB and Hex colors, and need the values for as many email software and web-based email services as possible as they seem to have different default colors for visited links. We are running color contrast tests between background colors and hyperlink text before sending emails such as newsletters.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Jennie
JENNIE DELISI  |  ACCESSIBILITY ANALYST
MN.IT SERVICES
651.201.1135 (w)  | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Information Technology for Minnesota Government   |   mn.gov/mnit
Learn: http://mn.gov/mnit/accessibility/

From: Jared Smith
Date: Tue, Aug 11 2015 3:39PM
Subject: Re: visited hyperlink text color
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Jennie Delisi wrote:

> Does anyone know the visited hyperlink colors for email?

The default visited link color in browsers was historically #884488. I
see that Firefox currently uses #5544BC and Chrome uses #551A8B, both
of which provide better contrast. Of course software and web pages can
define their own visited link colors - and there are certain to by
innumerable possibilities out there.

But I'm not quite sure why the default color would be relevant to you.
Either you can't control it, in which case there's nothing you can do.
Or you can control it with CSS in your HTML e-mail, in which case you
should simply ensure that your colors provide sufficient contrast
(keeping in mind that non-underlined links have additional contrast
requirements).

I've written about the WCAG 2.0 requirements for link colors here -
http://webaim.org/blog/wcag-2-0-and-link-colors/

Jared

From: Delisi, Jennie (MNIT)
Date: Wed, Aug 12 2015 8:40AM
Subject: Re: visited hyperlink text color
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Thanks Jared for the information, including the link to the blog.

The question comes up because as state agencies deliver information in email formats (such as newsletters) to the public, they encounter individuals with a wide variety of computer skills and cognitive abilities. Some store information they want to revisit in their emails.

I agree that the underlining of a hyperlink is an important distinguishing feature, and that there are times you cannot always control the color the hyperlink changes to after an action such as a "visit".

With a trend to have a color background in the bottom of an email newsletter and a hyperlink on this "footer", it can make it difficult for some readers to identify the hyperlink once the color has changed. As we look at best practices, I think we should aim for preparing for when the hyperlink color change cannot be controlled, especially if the goal of the communication is to provide information to someone who may need some assistance to find the information.

So, in response to your question "I'm not quite sure why the default color would be relevant to you.
Either you can't control it, in which case there's nothing you can do" what I can do is advise state employees creating email newsletters about the issue of the sometimes uncontrollable visited hyperlink color, so they are aware of this as they make design decisions and I can point them to the information you shared. I appreciate all you shared and welcome other ideas if others have experience with this challenge.

Jennie
JENNIE DELISI  |  ACCESSIBILITY ANALYST
MN.IT SERVICES
651.201.1135 (w)  | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

Information Technology for Minnesota Government   |   mn.gov/mnit
Learn: http://mn.gov/mnit/accessibility/

From: Jared Smith
Date: Wed, Aug 12 2015 10:08AM
Subject: Re: visited hyperlink text color
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I admit I don't know a lot about e-mail clients, but I can't envision
a situation where you'd be able to define a color background but not
be able to define the visited link colors. Both require basic CSS
support in the e-mail client, and I think e-mail clients that don't
support basic CSS would be rather rare these days.

So if CSS is supported, the user will get your defined colors which
will always be sufficient if you define both background and visited
link colors (a:visited in CSS) correctly. In a case where CSS is not
supported, the user will get the default purple on white colors, which
is also sufficient (and which you can't control anyway).

I think the only case where the user would experience contrast issues
is if you were to define a background color but not a visited link
color - and that's entirely preventable on your part.

I suppose there could be odd situations, such as <table bgcolor> that
might be supported for background colors where CSS for visited link
colors would not be, but this can be avoided by only using CSS to
define your colors.

Or perhaps I'm overlooking something.

Jared

From: Kroon, Kurtis@FTB
Date: Wed, Aug 12 2015 12:54PM
Subject: Re: visited hyperlink text color
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CSS support is all across the board. In particular, if you have to support Gmail web clients, your choices are "inline styles or nothing"[1][2].

Thank you!
                          
Kurtis Kroon
CA:GO:FTB:ASD:CSB:WSS:WUXU:AssocISA

References:
1: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/
2: http://templates.mailchimp.com/resources/email-client-css-support/


-----Original Message-----
From: Jared Smith [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 9:08
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] visited hyperlink text color

I admit I don't know a lot about e-mail clients, but I can't envision a situation where you'd be able to define a color background but not be able to define the visited link colors. Both require basic CSS support in the e-mail client, and I think e-mail clients that don't support basic CSS would be rather rare these days.

So if CSS is supported, the user will get your defined colors which will always be sufficient if you define both background and visited link colors (a:visited in CSS) correctly. In a case where CSS is not supported, the user will get the default purple on white colors, which is also sufficient (and which you can't control anyway).

I think the only case where the user would experience contrast issues is if you were to define a background color but not a visited link color - and that's entirely preventable on your part.

I suppose there could be odd situations, such as <table bgcolor> that might be supported for background colors where CSS for visited link colors would not be, but this can be avoided by only using CSS to define your colors.

Or perhaps I'm overlooking something.

Jared


CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email from the State of California is for the sole use of the intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review or use, including disclosure or distribution, is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and destroy all copies of this email.

From: _mallory
Date: Thu, Aug 13 2015 12:26AM
Subject: Re: visited hyperlink text color
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Oh well that's the problem them: inline styles can't style the
pseudo-states like :hover, :focus, or :visited.

_mallory

On Wed, Aug 12, 2015 at 06:54:47PM +0000, Kroon, Kurtis@FTB wrote:
> CSS support is all across the board. In particular, if you have to support Gmail web clients, your choices are "inline styles or nothing"[1][2].
> Kurtis Kroon
> CA:GO:FTB:ASD:CSB:WSS:WUXU:AssocISA
>
> References:
> 1: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/
> 2: http://templates.mailchimp.com/resources/email-client-css-support/
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jared Smith [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
> Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 9:08
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] visited hyperlink text color
>
> I admit I don't know a lot about e-mail clients, but I can't envision a situation where you'd be able to define a color background but not be able to define the visited link colors. Both require basic CSS support in the e-mail client, and I think e-mail clients that don't support basic CSS would be rather rare these days.
>
> So if CSS is supported, the user will get your defined colors which will always be sufficient if you define both background and visited link colors (a:visited in CSS) correctly. In a case where CSS is not supported, the user will get the default purple on white colors, which is also sufficient (and which you can't control anyway).
>
> I think the only case where the user would experience contrast issues is if you were to define a background color but not a visited link color - and that's entirely preventable on your part.
>
> I suppose there could be odd situations, such as <table bgcolor> that might be supported for background colors where CSS for visited link colors would not be, but this can be avoided by only using CSS to define your colors.
>
> Or perhaps I'm overlooking something.
>
> Jared
>
>
> > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email from the State of California is for the sole use of the intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review or use, including disclosure or distribution, is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender and destroy all copies of this email.
> > > >