[Sigia-l] readability and contextual linking

[Lada Gorlenko]

Md> Going a little further than the question you asked, I agree with Bill
Md> about the danger (gasp!) of taking them away from the page right in the
Md> middle of a thought.  And if they do continue on with the text for now
Md> and come back later, inline links can be a little harder to find,
Md> especially if there are a bunch of them.  Where inline links can be
Md> particularly useful is at times when the reader would be otherwise at a
Md> loss (e.g. confusing terminology) and they're likely to want help or
Md> more information right then rather than waiting until the end of the
Md> paragraph, section, etc.  If the information that the link provides is
Md> relatively short, using some sort of pop-up can allow the reader to get
Md> the information with minimal distraction from where they were.

I agree with Matthew.

A good analogy here is footnotes vs. endnotes. Footnotes are good for
an immediate access to a short piece of supporting information the
reader is likely to need *while* reading the paragraph/section.
Endnotes are better for larger information chunks and take the reader
*beyond* the immediate understanding of a particular piece of text.
Footnotes explain, endnotes explore.

Consider classifying and further splitting links into footnote-type
and endnote-type. For footnotes, provide in-line links. For endnotes,
visually distinguish anchor words in the text (without linking),
and repeat them as links at the end of the section. Visual distinction
draws attention to anchor words while reading, without distracting
from the text. When anchor words are encountered at the end as links,
they are easily recognised.

A piece of text for endnote links should not be too long: a paragraph
or a small section. Most readers quickly scan a new paragraph ('take
a breath') first, before reading it word by word. It is a good
time to register that more information is provided shortly.

Lada