> Use a mouse to click inside of a word link (like "threads") in the HN header. Try to drag to highlight. Note that the link tries to drag instead of highlighting. This is default behavior for anchors because of the issues that it would otherwise cause with the whole selection API.
You can drag slightly above/below to select it, or use shift + arrow keys. I personally use a plugin[0] to allow dragging within the text too, and haven't noticed any issues.
> Note that this is default browser behavior [...] This is the thing I'm advocating for.
If you're just advocating for the default browser behaviour, which does somewhat allow selection of link text, then that may be worth clarifying above - since I think people are interpreting your comments as advocating for those buttons that prevent text selection entirely (and I'm not really sure how else to interpret "the default behavior should at the very least be mitigated").
I made myself clear to the other development professionals I was talking to as evidenced by their feedback.
The people who seem to have the most trouble understanding what I'm advocating for are the people who seem to only be taking a user-centric approach to the situation, rather than grappling with the practicalities of the web environment.
At this point, I'm over trying to make anyone understand anything. They'll either get it, when it is relevant for them to get it, or they won't and it won't matter to me or anyone else at all.
In a year, we might have better web functionality or a new built-in browser or OS feature, or any number of other things that could mitigate this specific gripe, so I'm not super concerned about any of it. Those that understand what I'm saying will have better UX for heeding the advice with appropriate exception. And those that don't won't make UX worth using. No worries either way!
You can drag slightly above/below to select it, or use shift + arrow keys. I personally use a plugin[0] to allow dragging within the text too, and haven't noticed any issues.
[0]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/drag-select-l...
> Note that this is default browser behavior [...] This is the thing I'm advocating for.
If you're just advocating for the default browser behaviour, which does somewhat allow selection of link text, then that may be worth clarifying above - since I think people are interpreting your comments as advocating for those buttons that prevent text selection entirely (and I'm not really sure how else to interpret "the default behavior should at the very least be mitigated").