[thelist] RE: removing claret from IE (Here's how to do it)

Joe Crawford joe at artlung.com
Sat Nov 24 21:17:47 CST 2001


thelist-admin at lists.evolt.org wrote:
> Subject: 
> Reply-To: thelist at lists.evolt.org
> 
> <tip author="Rob Redford" type="Stupid Browser tricks">
> Accessibility be damned!
> 
> If you insist on removing the dotted lines that appear around clicked links,
> form buttons, and image maps in IE it's easily done and does not affect how
> other browsers work with the same links.  Simply add this bit of Javascript to
> your anchor tags or form buttons:

Actually, it can simultaneously prevent folks from tabbing past the link so
specified.

> onFocus="if(this.blur)this.blur()"
> 
> It's worth noting that any attributes you may have set via HTML or CSS for
> a:active will cease to work when this is applied (although that effect is
> often only visible for less than a second, anyway).

> Frankly, I don't see the what the BFD is about this -- "accessibility" or
> otherwise.  I find the dotted lines to be intensely annoying (esp. on image
> maps), and they aren't rendered in most browsers other than IE anyway, so that
> (IMHO) makes any argument for accessibility moot.  The claret is not a
> standard as such, although it is common to most Micro$oft products.

Some folks with motor difficulties can't use a mouse. For these folks, it
*does* indeed impact accessibility. And in truth, it's up to the user agent
to add features to links to more clearly indicate where they are. In that
sense those dotted lines are meant to be an aid to usability and
accessibility.

A small page I put together some time ago on this issue.
http://www.artlung.com/lab/scripting/the-problem-with-blur/

best,
    Joe
--
...........  Joe Crawford : thinking and design about the web
.... enigmatic narcissism and miscellany : http://artlung.com
.... community instigator : http://WebSanDiego.org
.... San Diego, California, USA .....................AAAFNRAA





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