Adding link colour

[shantsis]

Proposal to add a colour to our existing links to further enhance their visibility (i.e. not a replacement for the underline style currently).

I looked at a few examples that we can explore:

A) Default blue
if it ain't broke, don't fix it? It's a well known link colour so it should do the job

B) Our primary colour (#5C687D)
I didn't really like this one since it was rather light, even though it passes contrast

C) #4A73BA
It's a bit brighter than option B but still has that paler appearance

D) #054AC2
Another variant of B/C that's darker

I do think that the headers should remain black even though they are section links. Right now swapping the link colours affect them too.

[tunetheweb]

Thanks for doing this @shantsis and particularly for the mock ups.

I'll be honest though and say my preference is to stick with the black.

A) Personally I find the blue default style clashes with the Web Almanac colour palette and jumps out too much, distracting the reader from the text. For the Web Almanac, links should be supplemental for extra information and not the primary reason for readers visiting.

B) I agree this one is too light (I'm surprised it passes colour contrast too!), and don't see it differentiated enough to warrant changing it.

For C) and D) it's a mixture of the same feedback.

While I agree blue is semi-standard for no good reason, apparently, it seems a shame to limit ourselves to defaults for no good reason when we have the full richness of what the web platform now offers us to play with!

Some have suggested that blue links are good for older, less tech-literate (hat tip to @ericwbailey ) but honestly I don't think the less tech-literate are the demographic the Web Almanac is going to appeal to! That's not to say we should actively discriminate against them (and I don't believe we do), and if there is a legitimate accessibility concern here then happy to hear more, but my 2 cents worth is not to change this.

Curious to hear others opinions though.

[shantsis]

I hear you on the standing out too much. I do like having some colour cause it does bring attention to all the research the team has done.
We could leave the issue open if anyone else wants to take a stab at it - @HTTPArchive/designers