Yesterday I was conducting a website evaluation for a site that contains a right side column of information intended to express the credibility of the site owner. Each section of this long column began with a few words that are underlined. However, none of them were links. As a conditioned creature of the Internet, I can’t tell you how many times I tried to click them anyway - even when I knew that none of them were going to take me anywhere.

Why does underlining words that don’t link anywhere matter?

The first reason is convention. Or, another way to say it - conditioned behavior. We know that since the beginning of Internet time, a procedure was invented to signal a way to get from point A to point B. Most probably that direction is an underlined word that when clicked, changes color and even if not clicked, often is a different color from the rest of the content. It may even be a different font face and size. And, it’s underlined. It takes the visitor somewhere else.

In today’s web design, color as a link indicator is no longer a valid, confident clue. For starters, screen readers don’t note color changes. In addition, web designers have wanted creative freedom, and this has meant color changes that occur only when a word is moused over. It has meant any color, not just the standard blue and purple. The right column I was presented with had underlined words presented in the same color font and same font size as the rest of the content inside the column. The underline decoration just screamed to be clicked by its plain old innocent self.

The second reason why these words that went nowhere caused frustration was their purpose. The content was all about explaining the expertise of the web site owner, with accomplishments, awards, memberships in organizations, and other related items. But, none of it could be verified for truth. Without a link, there was no way to know such a place or organization even existed. They were empty words.

Credibility and authenticity are vital elements in user centered design. Sometimes it seems as though creativity interferes with this. That’s a shame. If the purpose of a site is to sell products or services, trust is important. Proof of good honest service is even better.

There are many ways to skin a hyperlink. It’s become a serious discussion in Should links still be underlined and blue?. As you can see, convention is often tossed to the wind and the web user be damned.

Related blog post at GrayWolf: Inline Linking Bad for Usability. Are embedded text links annoying to site visitors?

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