ho fatto così, però non succede niente:
.uno {BACKGROUND: none; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica; TEXT-DECORATION: none; font-weight:bold}
a.uno:link {BACKGROUND: none; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica; TEXT-DECORATION: none; font-weight:bold}
a.uno:active {BACKGROUND: none; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica; TEXT-DECORATION: none; font-weight:bold}
a.uno:visited {BACKGROUND: none; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica; TEXT-DECORATION: none; font-weight:bold}
a.uno:hover {BACKGROUND: none; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 11px; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica; TEXT-DECORATION: none; font-weight:bold}

<HEAD>
<script>
window.onload = function() {
var cont = document.getElementById("menu1"),
a = cont.getElementsByTagName("a"),
i = a.length;
while(i--) {
if(location.href.indexOf(a[i].href) != -1) {
a[i].className = "uno";
break;
}
}
}
</script>
</HEAD>

<div id="menu1">
<table width="168" height="1" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td width="27" height="20"></td>
<td align="right">protocollo</td>
<td width="5"></td>
<td width="13"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td height="1" bgcolor="#E9D1BB" colspan="2"></td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td align="right" id="activelink">ordini</td>
<td></td>
<td height="20"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td height="1" bgcolor="#E9D1BB" colspan="2"></td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td align="right">attività</td>
<td></td>
<td height="20"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td height="1" bgcolor="#E9D1BB" colspan="2"></td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td align="right">chiamate</td>
<td></td>
<td height="20"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td height="1" bgcolor="#E9D1BB" colspan="2"></td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td align="right">attestati</td>
<td></td>
<td height="20"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td height="1" bgcolor="#E9D1BB" colspan="2"></td><td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td align="right">prinzworld</td>
<td></td>
<td height="20"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td height="1" bgcolor="#E9D1BB" colspan="2"></td><td></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>