Is there a need to add an underline button to rich text?

[t-hamano]

I noticed that of all the format types in the core, only the underline is not showing up in the toolbar or dropdown.
Below are the results of the survey:

Format Type	Shown in the toolbar?	Mentioned in shortcut modal?	Have a shortcut? (On Windows)
core/bold	✅ (toolbar)	✅	✅ ( Ctrl + B )
core/code	✅ (toolbar)	✅	✅ ( Shift + Alt + X )
core/image	✅ (dropdown)	-	-
core/italic	✅ (toolbar)	✅	✅ ( Ctrl + I )
core/link	✅ (toolbar)	✅	✅ ([[)
core/striktthrough	✅	✅	✅ ( Shift + Alt + D )
core/underline	⚠️	✅	✅
core/text-color	✅	-	-
core/subscript	✅	-	-
core/superscript	✅	-	-
core/keyboard	✅	-	-

Looking at this table alone, it seems odd that only the underline doesn't have a button, but this feature is not a deprecated "Underline" element, but simply wraps in a span tag with an underline style.

#13117 is the PR with an additional underline shortcut by Cmd + U.
I also consulted the relevant issue, and it is my understanding that the underline style does not explicitly provide a button because it could be confused with the inline style.

Personally, I sometimes want to give an underline that is not a link, but is there any possibility of a button being added in the future?

[jasmussen]

I do not have the full history, but it is my understanding that the underline button is intentionally not surfaced because underlined text carries with it a risk of being confused with a hyperlink. This is especially important for low-vision or color-blind users, for whom usually colored hyperlinks may not be sufficiently differentiated from underlined text. Having the shortcut available, but the button not surfaced, seems like an acceptable balance to me.

[t-hamano]

Thank you for the detailed explanation.
That certainly makes sense.

[scruffian]

The problem is that in some themes, underlines are explicitly removed from links for example: https://github.com/Automattic/themes/blob/ca887cd3f72c1b755c0b5b6d2fe2c85d7597411c/pendant/theme.json#L378

In this case if I want an underlined link outside the Post Content the only way to do it is using a keyboard shortcut.

[ramonjd]

Coming here from a WordPress.org forum question. https://wordpress.org/support/topic/why-is-there-no-option-to-underline-links-in-the-block-editor/

Is this still relevant?

How strong is the accessibility argument here?

What if the underline button were in the block tool drop down and on not in the toolbar itself (next to Bold and Italics)?

If it's a definite "no" I think we could close this given #47484 was closed as well

[jasmussen]

As noted, while I have an opinion, it's not a strong or blocking one, and I did propose submenu flyouts if we want to expand the range of controls. But I wanted to respond to this:

I followed up on them, and find the arguments unconvincing in the face of explicit user demand. "Why do folks keep asking for this?" is what we should be asking

It's always a careful balance when listening to user feedback to try and find out what the user is trying to accomplish, vs. what they are asking for, as the two are not always the same. In that vein, I would love to understand good use cases for inline underline styles. Note, global styles-based underlines I think of as different: for example when styling links as part of an elements section, naturally we will need to provide underline as a style option. The default one, even.

Crucially, just like how we did when allowing justified text on paragraphs, when it's a global style we can provide a notice explaining that while it is there for you to choose, it will affect legibility:

And for justified-text, we also kept hearing from users: I need justified text. We also did the research: why do users need justified text? And the answer is: in many newsrooms or for certain school assignments, there's a manual of style that mandates justified text. This helped inform the solution: if it's a manual of style, you set it once, globally, and then all your paragraphs are justified. But what users were asking for, was adding justified text in the block toolbar dropdown:

That would have been a mistake, because then users would have had to edit every post on their site, manually selecting and aligning every single paragraph, and applying a per-block, per-post style, for something that was meant to be a single style set in one place. This is why it's so important to understand that there's always nuance.

With underlined text, for example, I wonder if there's a similar situation: people ask for it as an inline style when in fact they need it for underlined headings, which would almost certainly be better set, alongside a yellow notice, in global styles.

[ramonjd]

Thank you for indulging my rant and taking the time to reply.

Always happy to be put in my place 😄

Maybe there's a middle ground as @jasmussen describes.

It could come down to a theme choice. From the forum report:

Some themes underline links automatically, but many do not.

[jasmussen]

Didn't mean to put anyone in their place, to be clear.

Some themes underline links automatically, but many do not.

Ah, see that's an important piece. Link styles. We absolutely need something like the justification control, but for link styles, in the Element section, so that if a theme doesn't underline links, users can correct that. And we can show that warning notice for themes that do this.

[scruffian]

Can the underline button live with the other formatting controls?

I don't think the accessibility argument is a strong one. For example I can set both my background and text color to white if I want to, but just because it's possible doesn't mean its a good idea.

Underlined text has a semantic meaning that is more than just "link" both in printed text and online. I don't think we should prevent users from making that choice if it works for them.

[ramonjd]

Can the underline button live with the other formatting controls?

There's a PR that proposes this as well: #78561

More discussion over there on this topic. I'd be favour of adding it there for similar reasons.