[WEB4LIB] Re: curious web design

[Andrew Mutch]

Eric,

I'll work on getting people to get rid of the blue underline if you can get them
to use right-justified navigation rails.
:)
Seriously, to quote Mr. Nielsen:
"Blue text means "click here" on the Web, so by keeping unvisited links blue,
there is no doubt in users' minds as to what they can do. The time they save by
knowing what to do on a page is probably much bigger than the time they lose by
having the few words in the hypertext anchors be a few milliseconds slower to
read."
[http://www.useit.com/alertbox/991114.html]

If sites do move away from underlining links, I like those that include the
underlining when you hover over the link.  It provides the visual clue that
relates to the "standard" concept of the link.

Andrew Mutch
Library System Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI

"Eric (Eric Rogers)" wrote:

> What Would Jakob Do?
>
> He has also written that he believes bright blue underlining was probably
> the worst choice for hyperlinks, at least from a readability standpoint.
>
> Non-underlining may go against common practice, but sometimes change is good
> in the long term even if it is confusing in the short term.  Many major
> sites have moved towards not underlining hyperlinks, but rather using font
> color and weight along with a hover color to signify their function.  For
> example, Microsoft, or the BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk), where you will
> notice that the links change to red when hovered over (with IE 4-5 or
> Mozilla/Netscape 5).
>
> --
> Eric Rogers
> Internet Services Administrator, Kansas City Public Library
> mailto:eric at kclibrary.org - http://www.kclibrary.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrew Mutch [mailto:amutch at waterford.lib.mi.us]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 2:23 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: [WEB4LIB] Re: curious web design
>
> On issues of web design, I usually defer to the WWJD principle:
>
> What Would Jakob Do?
> [Nielsen that is!]
> ;)
>
> He frowns on those kinds of changes because they ignore web "standards" thus
> confusing visitors.
>
> Andrew Mutch
> Library Systems Technician
> Waterford Township Public Library
> Waterford, MI
>
> Jacqueline N Loop/LOO/LMITCO/INEEL/US wrote:
>
> > I've seen links done this way before, but I don't like it.  You lose those
> > precious few seconds trying to
> > figure out where the hyperlink is!  8-)
> > If 'twas me, I'd link both the graphic & the text.
> >
> > On a related note, I've noticed some programming where the hyperlink is
> not
> > underlined - something
> > to do with the style tag, I'm assuming.  I find this confusing, but maybe
> > that shows I'm old-fashioned.
> > Is non-underlined hyperlinking the wave of the future?
> >
> > Jackie Loop
> > loo at inel.gov