External link icon padding

[jjgali]

Issue summary

Related to #4536

When inline text has an external link applied, the icon that appears creates a large amount of padding that unnecessarily distances the text from the following punctuation, whether it be a period, comma, etc.

This padding has actually caused another issue to be raised about when we should be using punctation with external links.

Expected behavior

If we can reduce the padding or change the icon in some way, punctuation may not be as jarring, and we won't need to create a new content guideline to work around it.

Actual behavior

In the following image, there is a considerable amount of space between the icon and the period. It appears to be almost a full character width.

[jjgali]

@alex-page shared an interesting article from gov.uk where they explain why they decided to drop the external link icon altogether:

• "The icon is obscure and ambiguous"
• "Words are more effective"

After speaking with several folks about accessibility concerns, it seems that the best route is to simplify by removing the icon. If we discover that this hypothesis is incorrect, then we can reverse the PR and reinstate the icon.

In addition to removing the icon, we'll be updating guidance to encourage clarity of navigation when interacting with content.

[jjgali]

This work is being continued in #4756. Closing this issue.