Gentler: a tool for systematic web authoring

It is argued, with theoretical justification, that authoring hypertext and World Wide Web documents requires tool support if it is to be done well and an important principle for design is introduced: dual requirements.

Abstract

We argue, with theoretical justification, that authoring hypertext and World Wide Web documents requires tool support if it is to be done well. Tools are essential for good design; without them iterative design and user testing are impractical to follow through because of the prohibitive costs of making even small changes reliably. Gentler is one such authoring tool. It uses a database of pages and a page layout language, providing reliable design features including hypertext linkage and navigation. With Gentler as a concrete example, we introduce an important principle for design:dual requirements. Features that hypertext document readers find beneficial are beneficial for document authors, andvice versa.