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seriousWCAG 1.4.1 · A

Links must be distinguishable without relying on color

link-in-text-block

Ensure links are distinguished from surrounding text in a way that does not rely on color

The criterion behind it

1.4.1 Use of Color

Colour alone must not carry meaning.

Level A · EN 301 549 § 9.1.4.1

Why this check exists

Around one in twelve men has some colour-vision deficiency. A red-versus-green status is invisible to them, and to anyone printing in greyscale.

What usually triggers it

  • failsRequired fields shown only by a red label.
  • failsA chart legend distinguished only by line colour.
  • failsLinks inside body text with no underline and only a colour difference.

How to fix it

  • doAdd a second signal: an icon, a word, a pattern, an underline.
  • doFor links in text, keep the underline, or ensure a 3:1 contrast against the surrounding text *and* a non-colour cue on hover and focus.

How it is reported

A11ySignal reports this at serious impact. Every failing element comes with its CSS selector and the markup that failed, so you can go straight to the line rather than hunting for it. Deque publishes the engine-level detail:

https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.13/link-in-text-block ↗

Check implemented by axe-core 4.13.0, © Deque Systems, MPL-2.0.