Who this affects
Links are distinguished from surrounding text by colour alone, which colour-blind users cannot perceive.
How to fix it
Add an underline or another non-colour cue to inline links.
Effort Low · ~15 min
Where this sits in the standard
| WCAG success criterion | Level | EN 301 549 clause |
|---|---|---|
| 1.4.1 Use of Color | A | 301-549, 9.1.4.1 |
EN 301 549 clause 9 applies these criteria to web content. The published version referenced by the European Accessibility Act is V3.2.1, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 level A and AA. More on the standard.
How to check it by hand
Sample the foreground and background with a contrast checker and compare against 4.5:1, or 3:1 for text at 18pt and above or 14pt bold. Check hover, focus and disabled states too — they are the ones usually missed.
Automated testing settles roughly a third of the WCAG success criteria. This rule is one an automated tool detects reliably — but a clean automated result is not proof of conformance.
Reference
Deque's technical write-up for this rule: link-in-text-block
See whether your site trips this rule
Paste a URL. We open it in a real browser, dismiss the cookie wall and run the full EN 301 549 rule set. No account, no card.