Link contrast
Silktide finds links inside your text that are distinguished from the words around them by colour alone, with too little colour difference for people with impaired colour vision to spot. Links need to be recognisable as links, or readers cannot use them.
Why this matters
Around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women have a colour vision deficiency. If the only thing marking a link is a subtle colour change, these readers see plain text and never know the link exists. That means missed navigation, missed calls to action, and a level A failure - this is among the most basic accessibility requirements.
How to fix it
There are two ways to make an inline link compliant:
- Distinguish it by more than colour - the simplest fix is an underline, which is what most readers expect links to have. A border, background, or noticeably heavier font weight also works.
/* Links relying on colour alone */
a { color: #4a6da7; text-decoration: none; }
/* Fixed: underline makes the link visible to everyone */
a { color: #4a6da7; text-decoration: underline; }
- Use a strongly different colour plus a visible focus and hover state - the link colour must have a of at least 3:1 with the surrounding text, and the link must change visibly (for example gain an underline) on mouse hover and .
How Silktide tests this
- Find visible links that sit inside a run of text, with words directly before or after them. Standalone links, such as menu items and buttons, are not tested by this check.
- Skip links where the link colour, surrounding text colour, or background colour cannot be reliably resolved.
- Pass links that are visually distinct without colour: underlined, bordered, given a background, or at least 200 font-weight units heavier than the surrounding text.
- Otherwise, measure the contrast ratio between the link colour and the surrounding text colour, and inspect how the link changes on focus and hover. Report the link unless the ratio is at least 3:1 and the focus or hover state is visibly different.
Troubleshooting
My links change on hover, so why are they flagged?
A hover change alone is not enough - the link must also have at least a 3:1 colour contrast with the surrounding text. And even together, this route only helps people who can perceive the colour difference well enough to try hovering in the first place. An underline remains the most reliable fix.
Links in menus and buttons are not flagged
Correct - this check only applies to links surrounded by other text, where a reader has to tell the link apart from the words around it. Links that stand alone are visually identifiable by their position and styling.