Should links on a web page ALWAYS be underlined?
I do not believe this should be a hard and fast RULE!
I wrote a comment on my blog awhile back about this after another developer complained that I was not following web standards. It is coming up again, and I want to know what you think. Her argument was that for consistency and usability, ALL links had to be underlined ALL the time. My manager agreed, so I changed two lines in a CSS, and it was done. I did not mind doing the work, but I think the usability of the site is less now. There are way too many things screaming for your attention.
I should mention that this is a web site with many pages of data entry. The links in question were navigation links to the left of the page in a box that was titled ‘Menu’. The underline did appear when you hovered over the link already, and the background colour changed when the user hovered over the link. I really could not believe I was even having the discussion. I was even more shocked when my manager agreed.
Am I wrong? What other arguments should I have made? Thanks! 🙂
I think all links need to be distinguishable from normal text, but not necessarily underlined. Menus and navigation bars are pretty standard on websites, and are usually recognisable as such, so I think they are being a little too dogmatic.