This site is designed for accessibility. Content is obtainable and functional to any browser or Internet device. This site's full visual experience is available in a graphical browser that supports web standards. Please consider upgrading your web browser.

Why hyperlinks don't inherit color from their ancestor elements

Hyperlinks are styled by the user agent (e.g., a Web browser) by default.

These styles are usually set via a preference dialog, but could also be affected by a user stylesheet. Because these styles are explicitly assigned as though the UA had a stylesheet which read something like:

a:link {color: blue;}

these styles override any inherited values for the same properties which are "pre-styled."

Therefore, in the case of some properties (usually color) authors must explicitly assign styles to hyperlinks in order to influence them.