background-image: for :visited links?

Question

Is it possible to add the background-image: property to visited links?

 a.coolLinks:visited{
     background-image:url("http://www.ledr.com/colours/black.jpg");
}

Thanks

Edit: So it appears that this is a security vulnerability and this is why it cannot be done. There was no indication that the browsers were blocking this css style.

Answer 1

Your code is correct according to most specifications. However, many browsers consider background images on visited links a potential violation of user's privacy, so they do not allow it.

Observe this example:

<p><a href="/unvisited">Unvisited link</a></p>

<p><a href="http://jsfiddle.net/">Visited Link</a></p>

<style>
a {
  background:red url("http://placekitten.com/100/101?image=2") center center no-repeat;
  display: block;
  height: 200px;
  width: 200px;
  overflow: hidden;
  text-align: center;
  background-color: red;
}

a:visited {
  background:blue url("http://placekitten.com/100/100?image=1") center center no-repeat;
}
</style>

(Also at http://jsfiddle.net/Yq5GY/1/). Firefox ignores the background image declaration for visited links, and never displays the solo kitten. You can do some differentiation with background color. It's bad usability to rely on images alone, anyhow.