let's see then :)

I prefer to just use a standard blue colour via css (with a nice orange when on hover) to indicate links, and ditch the underline altogether. Not that I love blue, but I think ditching two link standards at once is just a step too far for most people :)

I think like Storm: Underlines for emphasizing aren't a no-go everytime. When a link is recognizable by a unique color (and it should be on a good website), there's no problem.

When there is a grey text with one red word and another word that's underlined. Which one would you click first? :-)

I would expect to click the underlined one. The web guy is right. You can't assume people are OK with having to learn how your particular site works. Underlined links are a usability expectation on any site.

Makes a lot of sense but I'm guilty of text-decoration:none most of the time. I notice you went against your own advice in the "about the author" bit. Love your work though :-)

Am honest oversight and you were right to call me out on it - especially given the subject of this article!

Problem rectified.

I guess it's called a best practice for a good reason.

I'd agree with this post, undelining text unless its a link is NON essential

Instead of using an underline for emphasis why not use either a block of nice complementing colour, bottom dashed border or coloured text?

Makes it easier for users to see the actual links and allows the bots to index properly

Regards

Craig

It seems to me that if you've clearly established your underline color for the page, using underlines WITHOUT color can be okay, when used sparingly.

For instance, if you've got black text on a white background, and it's clear that all of your links are underlined and turquoise blue, then an occasional black underline used on black text here and there wouldn't throw people off too much, it seems to me.

There may be a larger question here, namely whether underlining text is typographically meaningful and aesthetically pleasing or not. But maybe the whole issue in question is common usage, which Mike addresses here.

It's interesting to note that all versions of Windows from 95 and up (to my recollection) give the user the ability to underline links in Windows Explorer ONLY when hovered over. But it's easy to see how that practice of hiding links until the user actually hovers over them can be a problem on the web.

The other issue that supports what Mike is saying here is users with troubles perceiving color on screen. Underlines work fine and are easily recognized by any user with color blindness, but simply changing the text color may not work for them.