[UA-discuss] SAC095 - SSAC Advisory on the Use of Emoji in Domain

[Andre Schappo]

> On 31 May 2017, at 16:59, Andrew Sullivan <ajs at anvilwalrusden.com> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 03:49:21PM +0000, Andre Schappo wrote:
>> My standard practice is to make, whenever possible, my links WYSIWYG. I think it a good practice. Sometimes it is not possible because of overly long and complex URLs.
>> 
> 
> It's never actually been a recommendation from hypertext people,
> however.  They've always suggested that you should put links liberally
> in running text that is in itself nicely readable.  So,
> 
>    <a href="target">In a previous post</a>, we discussed UA…
> 
> as opposed to
> 
>    In a previous post, which you can find at <a
>    href="target">target</a>, we discussed UA …
> 
> Why do you think it's a good practice?  It makes for very stilted
> text.
> 
> A
> 

User reassurance - knowing the exact address of the website they will visit if they click the link.
Transparency - stating clearly and exactly the address of the website they will visit if they click the link.
User feedback - Users can visually verify that the address of the website they land on after clicking the link is indeed what was stated.

I consider it makes for better security because the address is upfront for visual inspection/examination and not hidden behind some text string/image.

There is much discussion/arguments on IDNs and phishing/spoofing because of, for instance, confusables.

I consider spoofing/phishing is more easily achieved with links hiding behind text/images without going to the effort of employing and registering IDNs containing confusables.

eg <a href="http://WeWillStealYourMoney.com">the honest and genuine bank<a>

I too used to hide links behind text/images but for about 4/5 years now I have been making links explicit as I consider it better security and better practice. One way in which I retain reading flow is to treat the link as a full stop ie terminating a sentence. Also, one can use links in a similar manner to the way citations are used in academic papers 

André Schappo