|
|
Posted by Jukka K. Korpela on 04/08/07 05:25
Scripsit Bernhard Sturm:
> Which is what I always wondered: defining a hyperlink by setting the
> color to blue and underline it, is just one of the mysteries of the
> default definitions.
I suppose we don't want to know the real events behind this mystery; it
might be too maddening. Some day, someone decided to make links blue and
underlined, for some odd reason, and was imitated by others.
> Psychologically it's utter nonsense to use 'blue'
> for something you would like the user to click at.
It's not a matter of wanting them to click at something.
> A more 'active' color is far better than the tranqulizing blue
I won't ask what colors are active to you (it must be fairly personal),
since I think the whole idea of activity is wrong. Links are relations, not
actions. A link simply says that _there is_ some related information (or
data) that can be accessed (relatively) immediately by activating the link.
It should not convey the idea "click me" or "activate me" (still less to
_say_ so!) but rather "I'm at your service".
Links should be like good servants: available, but not pushy; findable when
needed, but not aggressively prominent.
One of the mysteries is why colors and underlining were taken into use
instead of the fairly established _encyclopedia_ practice of using some kind
of an arrow before a word (to indicate that there is a relevant entry for
that word). It cannot have been a character repertoire problem, since even
">" would have worked fairly well. Admittedly, the arrows tend to make
reading less smooth, since visually they act like delimiters.
Thus, my idea of link colors is to keep them similar to typical browser
defaults but _less_ striking, e.g. #0000af instead of "pure" blue (#0000ff).
> And the argument, that we are all now used to blue
> underlined links falls flat if you are really serious in striving for
> better solutions
Better as regards to what? If your purpose is to make the world safe for
clever linking, you might want to sacrifice the practical usability and
popularity of your site, though no success is guaranteed of course, no
matter how much you sacrifice.
--
Jukka K. Korpela ("Yucca")
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/
Navigation:
[Reply to this message]
|