Re: [#1021] css blink effects

Becky Gibson wrote:

> Thus, based on Jens concerns (documented in the bugzilla issue)
> about being unable to control the blink rate in the different user 
> agents, the lack of standard support for this effect, and no standard 
> way of stopping it without losing all css formatting, I think we should 
> recommend NOT using css text-decoration:blink.

As well as causing a problem with photosensitive epilepsy, blinking content can also make it difficult to concentrate on other parts of the page. I don't have references, but it seems reasonable in my opinion to assume that in certain circumstances, this could cause an unnecessary distraction that hinders accessibility for people with certain types of learning difficulties.

On the other hand, a learning difficulties assistant at a local college told me that most of her students responded well to blinking text in certain circumstances, such as highlighting the correct choice in a test. Again, this is the word of one person rather than conclusive user testing, but it does make me think we should be careful how we word something that could possibly be beneficial to some groups. Maybe using terms like "avoid" would be better than banning it completely.

If user agent support for suppressing and controlling blink rate is poor, then maybe the onus for controlling this should be on content developers?

Best regards,

Gez
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