Reading, processing and interacting with hypertext on the Web
Reading, processing and interacting with hypertext on the Web
We increasingly spend a vast amount of time on the Web and much of that time is spent reading. One of the main differences between reading non-Web based text and reading on the Web is the presence of hyperlinks within the text, linking various related Web content and Web pages together. Some researchers and commentators have claimed that hyperlinks hinder reading because they are a distraction that may have a negative effect on the reader’s ability to process the text. However, very few controlled experiments have been conducted to verify these claims. In the experiments documented here we utilise eye tracking as a new methodology for examining how we read hyperlinked text. There is a well-documented tight link between when and where we look and what we process. Eye movements have been used extensively to help us to understand the cognitive processing that occurs during reading, but there has been very little research into how our reading differs when we read information on the Web.
Fitzsimmons, Gemma
ac6b7c69-8992-44f1-92ca-05aa22e75129
Weal, Mark
e8fd30a6-c060-41c5-b388-ca52c81032a4
Drieghe, Denis
dfe41922-1cea-47f4-904b-26d5c9fe85ce
Fitzsimmons, Gemma
ac6b7c69-8992-44f1-92ca-05aa22e75129
Weal, Mark
e8fd30a6-c060-41c5-b388-ca52c81032a4
Drieghe, Denis
dfe41922-1cea-47f4-904b-26d5c9fe85ce
Fitzsimmons, Gemma, Weal, Mark and Drieghe, Denis
(2016)
Reading, processing and interacting with hypertext on the Web.
30th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2016), Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom.
11 - 15 Jul 2016.
8 pp
.
(In Press)
(doi:10.14236/ewic/HCI2016.14).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
We increasingly spend a vast amount of time on the Web and much of that time is spent reading. One of the main differences between reading non-Web based text and reading on the Web is the presence of hyperlinks within the text, linking various related Web content and Web pages together. Some researchers and commentators have claimed that hyperlinks hinder reading because they are a distraction that may have a negative effect on the reader’s ability to process the text. However, very few controlled experiments have been conducted to verify these claims. In the experiments documented here we utilise eye tracking as a new methodology for examining how we read hyperlinked text. There is a well-documented tight link between when and where we look and what we process. Eye movements have been used extensively to help us to understand the cognitive processing that occurs during reading, but there has been very little research into how our reading differs when we read information on the Web.
Text
ewic_hci16_dc_paper14
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 17 April 2016
Venue - Dates:
30th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2016), Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom, 2016-07-11 - 2016-07-15
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 427281
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/427281
PURE UUID: d3be98bf-21cc-4499-ba6e-d39c3b2d213a
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 10 Jan 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:01
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Gemma Fitzsimmons
Author:
Mark Weal
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics