Editing Blink element (section)

== 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 "[f]lashing [text] should only be used to indicate imminent destruction of data or the program".<ref name="apple1982">{{cite book |last1=Meyers |first1=Joe |url=https://archive.org/download/apple-iie-design-guidelines/Apple%20IIe%20Design%20Guidelines.pdf |title=Apple IIe Design Guidelines |last2=Tognazzini |first2=Bruce |publisher=[[Apple Inc.]] |year=1982 |location=Cupertino, California |page=38 |language=en-US |chapter=Displays |quote=Flashing [text] should only be used to indicate imminent destruction of data or the program. |author-link2=Bruce Tognazzini |access-date=24 July 2023 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> 

The blink element has been consistently criticized by [[usability]] and [[accessibility]] experts. In 1996 [[Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)|Jakob Nielsen]] described the element as "simply evil" in his ''Alertbox'' column "Original Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design".<ref>{{cite web |last=Nielsen |first=Jakob |author-link=Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant) |date=April 30, 1996 |title=Original Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design |url=https://www.nngroup.com/articles/original-top-ten-mistakes-in-web-design/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705043841/https://www.nngroup.com/articles/original-top-ten-mistakes-in-web-design/ |archive-date=5 July 2023 |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=[[Nielsen Norman Group]] |publisher= |quote=Of course, <BLINK> is simply evil. Enough said.}}</ref>
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 disability|cognitive disabilities]] or [[photosensitive epilepsy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/|title=Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0|first1=Wendy|last1=Chisholm|first2=Gregg|last2=Vanderheiden|first3=Ian|last3=Jacobs|publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]]|date=5 May 1999|access-date=20 July 2010}}</ref>

The [[United States Access Board]] states that pages should "not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 [[Hertz|Hz]] and lower than 55Hz."<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 January 2017 |title=Revised 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines |url=https://www.access-board.gov/ict/#d21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708091554/https://www.access-board.gov/ict/ |archive-date=8 July 2023 |access-date=2023-07-24 |website= |publisher=[[United States Access Board]] |quote=Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.}}</ref>

The [[Germany|German]] Federal Government's ''Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung'' (''Accessible Information Technology Ordinance'') also states that flickering or blinking content should be avoided.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bitv_2_0/BJNR184300011.html |title=BITV&nbsp;— Einzelnorm |publisher=gesetze-im-internet.de |date=12 September 2011 |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref>

To comply with the ''User Agent Accessibility Guidelines'' a user agent must either "[a]llow configuration to render animated or blinking text content as motionless, unblinking text" or never blink text.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 December 2002 |title=User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 |url=https://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG/guidelines.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526201528/https://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG/guidelines.html |archive-date=26 May 2023 |access-date=23 October 2009 |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |quote=Allow configuration to render animated or blinking text content as motionless, unblinking text.}}</ref> [[Mozilla Firefox]] satisfied this requirement by providing a hidden configuration option to disable blinking,<ref name="mozilla-corporation"/> ''browser.blink_allowed'', which could be accessed through [[About: URI scheme|about:config]]. The blinking feature has been disabled altogether since version 23.<ref name="firefox23"/>