diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index fe1c27b..3e80ab1 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2970,6 +2970,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "leptos_router",
  "openidconnect",
  "proptest",
+ "pulldown-cmark",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "serde_yaml",
@@ -3104,6 +3105,24 @@ dependencies = [
  "unarray",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pulldown-cmark"
+version = "0.13.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e9f068eba8e7071c5f9511831b44f32c740d5adf574e990f946ddb53db2f314e"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.13.1",
+ "memchr",
+ "pulldown-cmark-escape",
+ "unicase",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "pulldown-cmark-escape"
+version = "0.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "007d8adb5ddab6f8e3f491ac63566a7d5002cc7ed73901f72057943fa71ae1ae"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "quick-error"
 version = "1.2.3"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 6444a47..9303469 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ leptos_meta = { version = "0.8" }
 leptos_router = { version = "0.8" }
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1"
+# Inline markdown for content descriptions (links, emphasis, code) -
+# runs on both server and client renders, so not feature-gated.
+pulldown-cmark = { version = "0.13", default-features = false, features = ["html"] }
 
 # --- server only ---
 leptos_axum = { version = "0.8", optional = true }
diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index 93c3f7b..793a4b9 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use crate::answers::{Answer, SelfTransitionAnswer, TransitionAnswers, TransitionItem};
 use crate::auth::{current_user, User};
-use crate::content::{is_qualified, Alternative, Question, Responsible, SiteConfig, Transition};
+use crate::content::{is_qualified, render_inline_markdown, Alternative, Question, Responsible, SiteConfig, Transition};
 use crate::resource::{get_requirement_binding, get_requirement_options, get_resource};
 
 /// The visible site name/wordmark - "portal" is just this codebase's
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ fn AlternativeCard(
         return view! {
             <section class="alt-card">
                 <h2>{alternative.name.clone()}</h2>
-                <p class="alt-description">{alternative.description.clone()}</p>
+                <p class="alt-description" inner_html=render_inline_markdown(&alternative.description)></p>
                 {move || {
                     let question_id_for_action = question_id_for_action.clone();
                     let alt_name_for_action = alt_name_for_action.clone();
@@ -902,7 +902,7 @@ fn AlternativeCard(
         <section class="alt-card">
             <AltImages images=alternative.images.clone() />
             <h2>{alternative.name.clone()}</h2>
-            <p class="alt-description">{alternative.description.clone()}</p>
+            <p class="alt-description" inner_html=render_inline_markdown(&alternative.description)></p>
             <div class="features">
                 <For
                     each={
@@ -945,22 +945,13 @@ fn AlternativeCard(
                                         let name = feature.name.clone();
                                         move || !name.is_empty()
                                     }>
-                                        <h3>
-                                            {match feature.link.clone() {
-                                                Some(href) => view! {
-                                                    <a href=href target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
-                                                        {feature.name.clone()}
-                                                    </a>
-                                                }.into_any(),
-                                                None => feature.name.clone().into_any(),
-                                            }}
-                                        </h3>
+                                        <h3>{feature.name.clone()}</h3>
                                     </Show>
                                     <Show when={
                                         let description = feature.description.clone();
                                         move || !description.is_empty()
                                     }>
-                                        <p>{feature.description.clone()}</p>
+                                        <p inner_html=render_inline_markdown(&feature.description)></p>
                                     </Show>
                                     {resource.map(|spec| {
                                         view! {
diff --git a/src/content.rs b/src/content.rs
index f58f94b..8855be4 100644
--- a/src/content.rs
+++ b/src/content.rs
@@ -136,6 +136,39 @@ impl Question {
     }
 }
 
+/// Descriptions are inline markdown: `[text](https://…)` links,
+/// `*emphasis*`, `**strong**`, `` `code` ``. Block structure is
+/// flattened (a description is one paragraph) and raw HTML in the
+/// source is dropped, so content can link out without being able to
+/// inject markup. Link targets are limited to https, mailto and
+/// site-relative paths; anything else renders as plain text.
+pub fn render_inline_markdown(text: &str) -> String {
+    use pulldown_cmark::{html, Event, Options, Parser, Tag, TagEnd};
+    let parser = Parser::new_ext(text, Options::empty());
+    let mut in_link = 0usize;
+    let filtered = parser.filter_map(|event| match event {
+        Event::Html(_) | Event::InlineHtml(_) => None,
+        Event::Start(Tag::Paragraph) | Event::End(TagEnd::Paragraph) => None,
+        Event::SoftBreak => Some(Event::Text(" ".into())),
+        Event::Start(Tag::Link { dest_url, .. })
+            if !(dest_url.starts_with("https://")
+                || dest_url.starts_with("mailto:")
+                || dest_url.starts_with('/')) =>
+        {
+            in_link += 1;
+            None
+        }
+        Event::End(TagEnd::Link) if in_link > 0 => {
+            in_link -= 1;
+            None
+        }
+        other => Some(other),
+    });
+    let mut out = String::new();
+    html::push_html(&mut out, filtered);
+    out.trim().to_string()
+}
+
 /// Directory-scoped defaults: a `_section.yaml` file applies to every
 /// question at or below its directory (nearest ancestor wins per
 /// field, and a question's own declaration always overrides). This is
@@ -237,11 +270,6 @@ pub struct Feature {
     /// rendered via Iconify's public SVG API - no icon library bundled.
     #[serde(default)]
     pub icon: Option<String>,
-    /// An https URL the card's name links to - an announcement's
-    /// programme page, a venue. Plain-text descriptions can't carry
-    /// links, so this is the one place a card points elsewhere.
-    #[serde(default)]
-    pub link: Option<String>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub requirements: Vec<Requirement>,
     /// Live data this feature pulls in. Read-only unless `transitions`
@@ -1022,16 +1050,6 @@ pub fn validate_questions(
             }
         }
         for alternative in &question.alternatives {
-            for feature in &alternative.features {
-                if let Some(link) = &feature.link {
-                    if !link.starts_with("https://") {
-                        anyhow::bail!(
-                            "question {:?} feature {:?}: link {:?} must be an https:// URL",
-                            question.id, feature.name, link
-                        );
-                    }
-                }
-            }
             // A dangling action is a literal dead end: the submit
             // button navigates to "Nothing here".
             if let Some(action) = &alternative.action {
@@ -1912,4 +1930,24 @@ alternatives:
         assert!(bucket_is_read(&qs, "things"));
         assert!(!bucket_is_read(&qs, EVENTS_BUCKET));
     }
+
+    // ── inline markdown ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+    #[test]
+    fn markdown_links_and_emphasis() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            render_inline_markdown("See [the programme](https://attac.no/x) *soon*."),
+            "See <a href=\"https://attac.no/x\">the programme</a> <em>soon</em>."
+        );
+        assert_eq!(render_inline_markdown("plain text"), "plain text");
+        assert_eq!(render_inline_markdown("a\nb"), "a b");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn markdown_drops_html_and_unsafe_links() {
+        assert_eq!(render_inline_markdown("x <script>y</script> z"), "x y z");
+        assert_eq!(render_inline_markdown("[bad](javascript:alert(1))"), "bad");
+        assert_eq!(render_inline_markdown("[ok](/shape)"), "<a href=\"/shape\">ok</a>");
+        assert_eq!(render_inline_markdown("[mail](mailto:bl@uhhm.no)"), "<a href=\"mailto:bl@uhhm.no\">mail</a>");
+    }
 }
diff --git a/style/main.css b/style/main.css
index 3f79551..5552094 100644
--- a/style/main.css
+++ b/style/main.css
@@ -448,15 +448,22 @@ main.not-found {
   margin-bottom: 0.15em;
 }
 
-.feature h3 a {
+/* links inside markdown descriptions */
+.alt-description a,
+.feature p a {
   color: inherit;
   text-decoration: none;
-  border-bottom: 0.06rem solid var(--line);
+  border-bottom: 0.06rem solid var(--accent);
 }
 
-.feature h3 a:hover {
+.alt-description a:hover,
+.feature p a:hover {
   color: var(--accent);
-  border-bottom-color: var(--accent);
+}
+
+.alt-description code,
+.feature p code {
+  font-size: 0.9em;
 }
 
 .feature p {