Links

Problem Summary: Need a
hyperlink
Pattern Key: LINK
Example:

Use When: The customer needs
to be able to go to a different place.
Solution:

  1. Links are underlined.  Underlining is not used except for
    links.

    Rationale:  Customers can identify links.
  2. The name of a link is the essentially same as
    the title of the page it goes to.  It is acceptable if one is
    plural and the other singular, if there is a difference in tense, case,
    articles, or the like, as long as the customer perceives that he got to
    the right place.

    Rationale:  Customers are confident
    that they are being taken to the correct page; terminology is
    consistent.

    Example:

      Link

    Title

    Good ...find the contact you
    want...
    Contacts
    Bad Permissions Rights

Link Buttons

  1. Links can also be used as buttons, either in
    menus (as in left navigation) or to have buttons will less emphasis or
    longer names than regular buttons.
  2. If a button and a link do the same thing, they should normally have
    the same name.  For example a function might be on a menu or left
    nav because that is standard, but for emphasis or association with other
    controls, it might also appear as a button with the same name else where
    on the page

    Example:

Rationale:
See embedded Rationale notes
Accessibility: See Accessibility
Internationalization: See Internationalization
Supporting Examples: None
Where Used: Many places
Coding: NA

Items of Note: None

Put to Use

Status: Review

Used in Conjunction with: NA

Related Patterns: