Does underlining links help or hurt?
Authors: 
Tom Tullis, 
Marisa SiegelAuthors Info & Claims
Tom Tullis, Marisa SiegelAuthors Info & ClaimsPages 4069 - 4074
Abstract
Two types of link treatments, underlined or non-underlined, were investigated in the context of three web pages. Over 1,000 participants completed tasks for which the answers were found either on the pages or by clicking a link. Task accuracy, speed, and ratings were collected in an online study. Conflicting findings suggest that primarily navigational pages should use underlined links, while informational pages should not.
References
[1]
Freed, L. "Online Retailers Find Reason to Celebrate in Dismal Economy." ForeSee Results Research Commentary. Dec. 30, 2009. Web. 4 Jan 2010. http://www.foreseeresults.com/Thank_HolidayTop40US_Dec09.html
[2]
Madaio, M. "To Underline, or not to Underline? That Remains the Question." NoD. March 06, 2008. Web. 10 Jan 2010. http://www.notesondesign.net/web-design/to-underline-or-not-to-underline-that-remains-the-question/.
[3]
Martin, B. "Should All Links be Underlined?" Usability.gov, May 2007. Web. 2 Jan 2010. http://www.usability.gov/articles/newsletter/pubs/052007news.html.
[4]
Nielsen, J. "Guidelines for Visualizing Links." Alertbox. 10 05 2004. useit.com, Web. 4 Jan 2010. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040510.html.
[5]
Spool, J. "Do Links Need Underlines?" User Interface Engineering. July 05, 2006. Web. 4 Jan 2010. http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2006/07/05/do-links-need-underlines/.
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Information & Contributors
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Published In
April 2010
2219 pages
ISBN:9781605589305
DOI:10.1145/1753846
- General Chairs:
- Elizabeth Mynatt,
- Don Schoner,
- Program Chairs:
- Geraldine Fitzpatrick,
- Scott Hudson,
- Keith Edwards,
- Tom Rodden
Copyright © 2010 Copyright is held by the author/owner(s).
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Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
New York, NY, United States
Publication History
Published: 10 April 2010
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CHI '10
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CHI '10: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
April 10 - 15, 2010
Georgia, Atlanta, USA
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CHI EA '10 Paper Acceptance Rate 350 of 1,346 submissions, 26%;
Overall Acceptance Rate 6,164 of 23,696 submissions, 26%
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