Is highlighting a word a failure of 1.4.1 Use of color?

Hi Folks, 

 

I got this email from a policy body the other day about highlighting a word or phrase... In my years on the calls I don’t recall any specific discussions about “highlighting” ... and the discussion turns around whether adding highlighting introduces a distinct new meaning... which is lost without that colour highlighting ... the understanding doc doesn’t discuss it... would anyone like to comment...?

 

David MacDonald

www.eramp.com 

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Hi David


Got into a discussion today about the use of colour to highlight a word in a phrase. Their contention was if you use a change in colour, you have to add something like <strong> as well.

 

Example 1: "Sign up for our free courses." where "free" is red.
Example 2: "Required fields are marked with *." where the sentence is in another colour. 

I said this was not a failure of SC 1.4.1, it seems like it is imposing an extra requirement on designers who want to use colour for adding extra style to their web pages. The highlight adds no function, has no other related meaning and appears to by used for stylistic purposes, when viewed without colour, the information is still available and no context is lost.