bug: login registration link relies on color alone

[SHAURYAKSHARMA24]

Summary

The “Create one” registration link below the login form is distinguishable from surrounding text only by color at rest.

Expected Behavior

The registration link has a persistent non-color cue and remains clearly distinguishable in pointer, keyboard, and default states.

Actual Behavior

The link is underlined only on hover. At rest, axe measures approximately 1.41:1 between the link and surrounding text, below the 3:1 non-color distinction threshold.

Reproduction Steps

1. Start the disposable prototype stack.
2. Open /login.
3. Run axe-core with the WCAG 2.2 AA tag set.
4. Inspect the Create one link below the form.
5. Observe the link-in-text-block violation.

Severity

P2 - Medium

Evidence

• axe-core 4.12.1 reports link-in-text-block with serious impact.
• Measured link-to-text contrast: approximately 1.41:1.
• WCAG 2.2: 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A).

Environment

• Browser/tooling: Chromium 151 with axe-core 4.12.1.
• Application state: initial sign-in form in the disposable prototype stack.
• OS, Node/Python versions, Docker state, and original branch/commit were not recorded in the initial audit.

Acceptance Criteria

• Authentication inline links have a persistent non-color distinction.
• Pointer and keyboard focus states remain visible.
• The reciprocal registration-to-login link is checked for the same pattern.
• Focused authentication regression coverage is added.
• Frontend test, lint, and production build pass.

Roadmap Alignment

Improves the accessibility of the existing authentication and activation path.

Related to #118.

[parthrohit22]

This issue tracks a manual accessibility check required for the WCAG 2.2 AA baseline (PR #241). It will be closed once manual evidence (screen‑reader, keyboard, contrast, etc.) is provided as part of the baseline validation.

[parthrohit22]

Please work on this immediately. We need a focused PR ready before tomorrow’s university tech-fest presentation. Keep the change limited to this issue’s acceptance criteria and include the frontend test, lint, and production-build results in the PR.