Question

I had some CSS like this:

a {
    display: block
}

a:focus {
    background: #000
}

And an anchor like this:

<a href="">Hi!</a>

why can’t I focus on it by clicking? I know it redirects but one would assume for a split second the background would go black. Whats up?

Answer 1

Not all browsers give elements focus when clicked. I believe Internet Explorer does, but Google Chrome certainly doesn’t. If you’re looking to apply a style when the mouse is down on the element, consider :active instead:

a:active {
    background: #000;
}

You can compare the two live here. On this page, Tab once and the first one should get the focus and the border.