thoughtcrumbs

Hypertext tricks

Today's Alertbox focuses on advanced hypertext: rethinking the way links work. The article is mostly a wish list of browser features and design conventions, but a surprising number have been implemented or researched. (A few more than Nielsen mentions.)

• Fat links: Open more than one page at a time. No HTML syntax exists for this yet, though the LookAhead extension to Firefox opens Google results in multiple tabs. (Which actually seems like a hassle, since I have to close all of those tabs with results I don't want .)
• Explicit IA: Providing standardized (browser built-in) buttons to structural site pages (home, site map, help) to reveal the underlying information architecture. This can already be done with the <link> tag's rel attribute, providing support to users with disabilities. The iCab browser has built-in buttons beneath the URL bar, and there's also a Firefox extension for this.
• Integrated searching and linking: Letting people type in task-based keywords and then displaying a relevancy score next to the links on a page as the user browses around. A lot of researchers are investigating how to intuitively convey this "information scent."

Along with Penn State's active learning browser, Nielsen's article promotes building support for common user activities right into the browser, rather than relying on individual site designers to follow standards. I hope this shift continues.

Update: Eric Scheid pointed out that iCab also supports something similar to what Nielsen calls typed links (though a better name might be link hinting): the hand cursor changes to a hand with a mini page icon if the link opens in a new window. Nielsen mentions indicating when links go to external sites, which he himself implements well with the <a> tag's title attribute. Hover over links in his article to see the link title, which includes the name of the destination site.