LINMO

Guidelines: Hyperlinks

A hyperlink, commonly referred to as a link, is a text string (i.e., sequence of characters) or an image in a web page (or other electronic document) that causes another location in the same page or an entirely different page to appear on the display screen when activated by pressing a mouse button. Hyperlinks are fundamental to the operation of the web.

As with many other aspects of document design, the well-planned and consistent use of links throughout a web site can be an important factor in maximizing the site's usability (i.e., convenience, efficiency and enjoyment of using for a diverse range of people). The guidelines for hyperlink use on LINMO-compatible web sites are:

(1) The first time a new technical term or concept is used on a page, a link is made to the page on the same site about that term or concept if such page has already been completed and posted on the site. Links should be used for new terms and concepts only the first time each such term or concept is used on a page, not every time, as this would provide little if any benefit for users, and possibly just be distracting and annoying. It would also create a lot of extra work for the site developer.

(2) Links to incomplete or blank pages, sometimes called stubs, should be avoided¹. This is because they serve no useful purpose and merely tend to annoy users (who have to click on a link, wait for a page to be downloaded and rendered, and then find that it contains little, if any, content).

(3) It should be a goal to eventually have a separate page about each specialized term or concept relevant to the main topic of the site. Links can then be added to those new pages from existing pages.

(4) It would be ideal to add links from existing pages to new pages as soon as those new pages are posted to the site. However, this is rarely practical except for small sites. For larger sites, links to a new page can be added (a) initially only from the most recent pages, (b) initially only from the most relevant pages and/or (c) only as existing pages are reviewed on a regular basis.

(5) Internal links (i.e., within the same web site) and external links (i.e., to other web sites) should be segregated by confining the latter to footnotes and special pages that contain collections of links, while allowing internal links to be used anywhere (i.e., in the main body of text or footnotes). This makes the distinction clearer to users. It also allows more space to be devoted to information about other web sites or pages thereon without disrupting the flow of the main body of text. This is similar to the practice in hard copy (i.e., printed on paper) books of providing detailed references to other books in footnotes and appendices.

(6) Each term or concept that is likely to be unfamiliar to most readers should be followed by an explanation of the term or concept in parenthesis, in a separate sentence or in a separate paragraph regardless of whether that term or concept forms a link to a dedicated page about it. Such definitions and explanations can allow most readers to continue to read the page and understand its content, and readers can click on the link if more detailed information is desired. Definitions and explanations are not necessary for linked terms or concepts that are likely to be familiar to most readers.

(7) The default location for opening new pages in response to clicking on links should be the same browser window. The practice of having new pages open by default in new windows should generally be avoided, as users usually do not want this. Should a user prefer to open a page in a new browser window or in a new tab (on browsers that have tabbed browsing), this is easily accomplished by clicking on the right mouse button.

(8) One of the most common problems on websites is broken links (i.e., links that either do not function at all or that lead to an incorrect page). Thus it is important after all editing has been completed on a new page and the final version has been posted to the site, to manually test each link on the page. Broken links sometimes occur even on the most thoroughly edited of pages, and it is not uncommon for them to creep back into a page during one more final round of editing. During this testing, care should also be taken to make certain that multiple instances of a single term on any page have not been made into links.

(9) The color for hyperlinked text should be a standard blue. In HTML (hypertext markup language) terminology this would be "#0000ff". This is what most people are used to and it has worked well in practice.

(10) Although text links should generally be obvious by their blue color, it is also useful to utilize the hover attribute of links to help users quickly discern them or confirm them when passing the mouse cursor over them. A suitable behavior for hovering is for the background color of the link to change from white to a very light gray (e.g., "#eeeeee"). This color is appropriate because it blends well with the white background and the black text and because it keeps the text in front of it legible.

(11) All links should be inside of the page margins, not in the margins themselves. The only exceptions are two links in the upper left hand corner of each page. The left-most of the two links serves two important functions: it immediately identifies the site for users who may have entered the site from some other site (i.e., from a link on a search engine or other page) and it plays a key role in the efficiency of site navigation. Thus, it should have a name that identifies the site rather than merely being a generic term such as home; however, should be as short as possible, preferably a single word, to keep it from becoming visually intrusive.

The link to its right is an invisible link that points to the main index. It also plays a very important role in site navigation, because of the central role of the index page in LINMO-compatible web sites, including allowing any page on the site to be accessible from any other page with a maximum of two clicks. The link is invisible until the mouse cursor is placed over it in order to avoid visually cluttering the page and because users of the site will likely soon discover and become familiar with it. Obviously, only a single link is needed in the upper right hand corner of the home and main index pages.

(12) A paragraph consisting of a series of links to section headers and placed just below the page header and above the main body of text can help improve the usability of very long pages. In such case, it is also convenient for users if there is an invisible link to the right of each section header that points back up to the top of the page. Making this link invisible except when the mouse cursor passes over it is the least distracting and most elegant solution, and users will soon become aware of this feature on such pages. However, whenever a page is so long that providing links from the top to section headers appears useful, the page should be examined carefully to see if it should be broken up into separate pages, each about a separate subtopic.

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¹Stubs may be useful on some types of websites, however, particularly on wiki-type sites. A wiki is a website that allows anyone, or any registered user, to add and edit content. The value of stubs on such sites is that they can make it easier for volunteers to find locations where new content could be developed and can help provide a starting point for such content. However, it is unknown whether this benefit outweighs the annoyance factor to users.