Hypertext Theory
 


In the gateway structure, pre-requisite information is presented before access to other information. Readers are forced to view the pre-requisite information on their way to the premium content.

In the proximity model, pre-requisite information exists in close proximity to the other information being presented. The reader can choose to skip it, or can take the time to read it.

The glossary strategy places dependent information a link away from the primary content. Readers can easily find the information should they need it.

The tendancy of users to leave a web site, or abandonment, is not the only limitation of hypertext as it exists today on the Web. The devices and software limit the interactivity of a Web site to typically two input devices: a keyboard and a mouse pad. When and if more input devices that are affordable and easy to use become popular, the information users input to their computers could change drastically from today's model, and in turn change our view of hypertext completely.

For example, Xerox uses a device in user-testing labs that tracks the movement of the human eye watching the computer screen. Suppose that this device was made available to the typical Internet user. As the human eye moves, the computer has data about the region of the screen to which the user's eye is drawn. The screen changes in reaction to this data. In this hypothetical situation, a different input device and correlating software change the way that humans interact with the information on the Web, and consequently change the way designers design.

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