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Out of curiosity, after I learnt the use of mathjax if I thought necessary (obviously may be not for others) I use the $\color{red}{colour }$ code to mark any point of my question, but some users suggest edits or reputed users usually remove it by editing it!

I am not sure why this happens? Is it a regulation? Or is it mandatory to not do such things for asking a good question?

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  • $\begingroup$ Can you show an example? I suppose it could make the code of your question harder to read $\endgroup$
    – Calvin Khor
    Dec 7, 2020 at 6:31
  • $\begingroup$ @calvin khor like I mentioned, hope this is it $\endgroup$
    – David
    Dec 7, 2020 at 6:35
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    $\begingroup$ I think it could be a number of things depending on the person editing. 1 is, its written in math mode, so the letters are written as if it means $c\times o \times l \times\dots $. So maybe \color{red}{\text{colour}}$\color{red}{\text{colour}}$. 2, it has been suggested (somewhere...) that MathJax should not be used for emphasis/formatting text, and instead you should use the Markdown formatting like you did for I thought. $\endgroup$
    – Calvin Khor
    Dec 7, 2020 at 6:41
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    $\begingroup$ 3, If you only marked one word like "$\color{red}{\text{Question:}}$ how do I use this theorem?", maybe its not so bad, but I would definitely edit an entire paragraph written like this. Without an example post, I don't know if you did this, but there it is. Somewhat parallel to this is, if your question is simple enough, then there's no need to make it complicated with this kind of MathJax code. I think its fair to say that its not a regulation though. One point in favour, I think the MathJax implementation is actually more stable than the Markdown, seeing how quotes >... have changed $\endgroup$
    – Calvin Khor
    Dec 7, 2020 at 6:44
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    $\begingroup$ As far as I can tell, MathJax is intended to typeset math. Using MathJax to get color (or different font) in a normal text (which is not part of some math formula) could be considered problematic. See also the discussion in the comments here: How to color a sentence? $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Dec 7, 2020 at 8:25
  • $\begingroup$ BTW I only see two questions you posted on the main site. And neither of them uses color: math.stackexchange.com/posts/3857757/revisions math.stackexchange.com/posts/3895231/revisions $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Dec 7, 2020 at 8:33
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    $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak I did check that as well (as well as the edits on those questions). I assume OP has more than one account, some deleted questions, or is asking for a friend. $\endgroup$
    – Calvin Khor
    Dec 7, 2020 at 8:43
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    $\begingroup$ See also math.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4195/… $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Dec 7, 2020 at 9:10
  • $\begingroup$ @calvin khor I posted it in my physicis account. $\endgroup$
    – David
    Dec 7, 2020 at 10:21
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    $\begingroup$ It would have been nice if you posted the link. Firstly, you are posting in the Mathematics Meta. This should be a concern for the Physics Meta. Secondly, I guess here is the question; I think your question is so short that there is no reason to make YouTube stand out, i.e. I think this falls under the above considerations. Also you put the colour in $\color{red}{\text{the title}}$ as well. (both body and title colours were edited out separately) IMO there is no reason to do that and I would also edit it out on Math.SE $\endgroup$
    – Calvin Khor
    Dec 7, 2020 at 10:29
  • $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak Interesting. I, for one, routinely use MathJax to insert, say, italics into normal text. Is there another, preferred, way to achieve that? $\endgroup$
    – lulu
    Dec 7, 2020 at 15:12
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    $\begingroup$ @lulu As far as I can tell, Markdown is the preferred way to get italics. See editing help. For italics, you can use _underscore_ underscore or *asterisk* asterisk. (You can also add them by clicking on the corresponding button in the standard editor on Stack Exchange.) $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Dec 7, 2020 at 16:29

1 Answer 1

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The main reason to avoid using MathJax for color decoration of text is to improve accessibility on the site.

Color blindness affects about 8% of males and 0.5% of females. This is presumably not uppermost in your thoughts as you apply color-for-emphasis, but user interface designers put effort into choices that maximize legibility for the Community as a whole.

Therefore Markdown is preferred to give italic and bold text quite easily and without shortchanging those for whom color does not achieve that purpose.

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    $\begingroup$ Not to mention interaction with screen readers for people who can't see the screen at all. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:40
  • $\begingroup$ Yep. I felt like I needed to do a bit of research on screen readers before adding that explanation. $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:44
  • $\begingroup$ Not a compelling argument given that there are tools to help visually challenged readers, including one explicitly designed for this purpose by a a MathJax develioper. $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Dec 20, 2020 at 16:07

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