| It is a fact that links have always been a vital part in | | | | The second trait is not as important as the first one, |
| the internet navigational process. Depending on the | | | | i.e. underline can be eliminated in some cases like the |
| links and also on the content of the site that the link | | | | one when an area functionality is absolutely obvious - |
| leads to, internet users decide on the worthiness of | | | | for instance, we could think of a site menu where |
| coming back to that site or not. | | | | everybody expects a content summary as a |
| One cannot fail to notice the latest trends imposed | | | | presentation. |
| by web 2.0, the emergence of a new writing genre | | | | Thus, you should provide users with sufficient click |
| designed to cater for the new needs and tastes of | | | | ability cues. Trying to put the cursor over different |
| internet users and also the transformation process | | | | parts of the page is time consuming and not quite |
| that search engines undergo. | | | | "affordable" with a view to gain more traffic. At the |
| Broadly speaking, users go from page to page | | | | same time, it's worth keeping in mind that there area |
| selecting only the most important information or just | | | | certain click ability expectancies regarding different |
| the information that is easier to spot; they need to | | | | regions of a web page; for instance, items on the |
| be able to make a quick assessment of the page | | | | center, left, right side have a high probability of being |
| content, get the information they are seeking and go | | | | links. |
| to another page. | | | | 3. Use different colors for visited and unvisited links |
| Usually, web authors employ hypertext links to | | | | Links that were clicked must differentiate one way |
| create or reinforce concepts: a list of related links can | | | | or another from the ones that were not; the best |
| serve as the focus of a site. The problem posed by | | | | way of doing that is the color contrast; links are |
| links has little to do with the web but is rather related | | | | supposed to stand out on the computer screen as |
| to the concept of hypertext. A collection of links | | | | much as possible; in this respect, bright, vivid colors |
| does not have the same effect on the reader and is | | | | are preferable - links should differentiate from linear |
| not as legible as conventional linear text. | | | | text in any case. |
| In the case of linear text, readers have to work | | | | Conversely, links that were already clicked should |
| harder in seek of needed information. Links also | | | | employ a rather pale and "washed" color. The effect |
| become a technical problem, because most web | | | | of using different colors but both at the same level |
| pages have a certain rank on search engines due to | | | | of chromatic intensity might result in a failure to |
| links. Links are to be used as a reinforcement of, not | | | | establish a concrete content relationship between |
| a substitute for content. | | | | those links, users won't be able to tell visited from |
| What is worth mentioning when tackling the link issue | | | | non-visited links. |
| is that designers are supposed to use relevant link | | | | Even though some compromises would be acceptable |
| labels, give consistent click ability cues and also | | | | (like using other colors), using blue for text is an |
| differentiate links that have been clicked from those | | | | exception. Blue is a color with the most notable |
| that haven't. | | | | perceived affordance of click ability. |
| 1. Use relevant link description | | | | 4. Colors for text are to be avoided |
| Users' confusion must be avoided at all costs. In this | | | | It is recommended that colors should be used for |
| respect, they should be able to look at every link and | | | | hyperlinks only. Nevertheless, there are generally |
| be able to predict to some extent the destination or | | | | recognized and allowed colors for certain words such |
| the website they are about to visit. A negative | | | | as red for "error" or green for "ok". Technically |
| example in this case is using the label - Click here-, | | | | speaking, when referring to document colors, it is |
| which is rather confusing and does not provide any | | | | advisable that you specify all of the colors |
| kind of information about the link destination. | | | | (BGCOLOR, TEXT, LINK, VLINK, ALINK), to ensure |
| Another relevant case is that of embedded links; | | | | an enjoyable and legible composition. Find out more |
| when employing embedded links, the link text should | | | | about choosing the right colors for your web site. |
| accurately designate the link's direction. Users have a | | | | The main reason reinforcing this idea is that some |
| certain tendency towards ignoring the text | | | | users may have certain colors set as default, so if |
| surrounding embedded links; consequently, it is | | | | you don't specify all the colors of a document, they |
| recommended that you should not create embedded | | | | may end up with an illegible document. In addition, |
| links that use the surrounding text in order to provide | | | | even when using a background image, you should still |
| hints about the link's destination. | | | | specify BGCOLOR, because the user may not have |
| 2. Be aware that textual links do have certain main | | | | the image loading on. |
| characteristics like: underlining and color. | | | | |