blink element

The blink element is a non-standard HTML element that indicates to a user agent (generally a web browser) that the page author intends the content of the element to blink (that is, alternate between being visible and invisible). The element was introduced in Netscape Navigator but is no longer supported and often ignored by modern Web browsers; some, such as Internet Explorer, never supported the element at all.

Despite its initial popularity among home users in the 1990s, it fell out of favor due to its overuse and the difficulty it presents in reading. Lou Montulli, often credited as the inventor of the blink element, claims he only suggested the idea, without writing any actual code.

Usage

The blink element is non-standard, and as such there is no authoritative specification of its syntax or semantics. While Bert Bos of the World Wide Web Consortium has produced a Document Type Definition that includes syntax for the blink element (defining it as a ''phrase element'' on a par with elements for emphasis and citations), the comments in the DTD explain that it is intended as a joke.

Syntax of the blink element type is identical to such standard HTML inline elements as span. For example: . The rate of blinking is browser-specific, and the tag contains no parameters or means to adjust the rate of blinking. In versions of Mozilla Firefox that support the tag, the text alternates between being visible for three quarters of a second and being invisible for one quarter of a second.

The blink element type was first invented for Netscape Navigator and was supported in its descendants, such as Mozilla Firefox (except for the ''Netscape 6'' and early Mozilla suite browsers—it is thus also absent from SeaMonkey, which descends from Mozilla suite); it was removed from Firefox in version 23. Microsoft's Internet Explorer and WebKit (the browser engine behind Apple's Safari and Google Chrome) never supported it, even in its CSS incarnation. It was also supported by the Opera Internet Browser, but support ended in version 15 when that browser switched to a WebKit-based engine. Vivaldi, despite its roots as a spiritual successor to the Presto-based Opera, also does not support a functional blink tag.

Some software supports the blink element as an easter egg. Google Search blinks parts of the page when one searches for "blink html". Android's user interface framework supports the blink tag, labeling it as TAG_1995 in its source code.

Implementation

The ''blink'' value of the CSS ''text-decoration'' property allows authors to suggest that text should blink without using proprietary tags, but the ''CSS 2.1 Specification'' states that "conforming user agents may simply not blink the text" in order to comply with the ''User Agent Accessibility Guidelines''.


Text to blink here

The blink element may also be implemented using CSS animations.

blink, .blink

@keyframes blink

Similar effects can also be achieved through the use of JavaScript.

Text to blink here

Or alternatively, the ''blink'' functionality can be implemented with the help of jQuery.

Text to blink here

Usability and accessibility

Even before the implementing of the blink tag in HTML, the Apple IIe had a flashing text mode, alternating between standard white-on-black and inverse black-on-white text. A 1982 Apple Computer manual for developers advised against using this feature except for emergencies, warning that "flashing extshould only be used to indicate imminent destruction of data or the program".

The blink element has been consistently criticised by usability and accessibility experts. In 1996 Jakob Nielsen described the element as "simply evil" in his ''Alertbox'' column ''Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design''.
The World Wide Web Consortium's ''Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0'' state that content authors should avoid causing the screen to flicker or blink, noting that such effects can cause problems for people with cognitive disabilities or photosensitive epilepsy.

The United States Federal Government's ''Section 508'' states that pages should avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency between 2 Hz and 55 Hz, a range that covers rapidly blinking text.

The German Federal Government's ''Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung'' (''Accessible Information Technology Ordinance'') also states that flickering or blinking content should be avoided.

To comply with the ''User Agent Accessibility Guidelines'' a user agent must either "allow configuration to render animated or blinking text content as motionless, unblinking text" or never blink text. Mozilla Firefox satisfied this requirement by providing a hidden configuration option to disable blinking, ''browser.blink_allowed'', which could be accessed through about:config. The blinking feature has been disabled altogether since version 23.

See also

* Marquee element
* Bling-bling

References

External links

Cross Browser Blink Tag

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blink Element
HTML tags
Netscape
Web 1.0