[Sigia-l] quick survey: standard link styles, or "what makes a link look li ke a link?"

[Dan Hill]

[apologies for cross-postings - and apologies if this has recently been
covered on this list. i did check the recent archives and couldn't find much
on this specific issue]

hi there

hope you can help me with a quick non-scientific survey (i'll feed back a
summary of the results to the list, if it's of use).

i'm working on part of the BBC's website(s), and trying to ascertain current
industry wisdom on *link styles* ... in short, how should we present text
hyperlinks:

* given our ability to describe text links in different styles these days
(diff. colours, emboldening, underline or not, underline on 'hover' via css
where possible etc.)

* given our user's vastly differing levels of web experience, and a
culture's assimilation of patterns/modes of 'idiomatic behaviour' online
(the BBC's sites are UK-oriented but not exclusively, obviously)


some thoughts (some with a devil's advocate flavour!):

* how much can we depart from blue, underlined links? ought we to do this at
all, given that the majority of people/users may still be 'web beginners'
for a few years yet? 

* or is it simply a matter of creating our own consistency (e.g. many BBC
sites are increasingly using bold, with underline on hover as a link style;
other BBC subsites simply change colour on hover, and employ 'arrow'
graphics to denote 'linkness' etc.)

* or are there examples of emerging idiomatic behaviour patterns i.e. what
do we think most users expect links to look like/behave like, given their
average 'web journeys' will sweep across several different sites?

* can the page context denote a link (i.e. does a 'standard' textual
left-hand navigation bar need underlines, or can its 'linkness' be inferred
by position/shape?)

* are links in the midst of 'body text' to be treated differently, due to
issues of legibility? can we rely on using colour instead of underlining
given issues of colour-blindness/differing monitors?

* if we're using 'hover' to reveal link-like aspects, ought we to worry
about the fact that users may not know where to hover in the first place? or
do we feel 'most users' don't need their hands holding any more?

NB. the BBC's sites (aka BBCi) are large, mainstream, high-traffic sites
e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/

any thoughts would be much appreciated.

thanks,
dan.




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