Is it too late to put the user back into HTML?

Originally, HTML was intended to be a simple, rather limited language for describing primitive information layouts in World Wide Web pages. The first version of the HTML specification emphasized simplicity. The browser, not the HTML coder, controlled the actual page appearance, determining the appearance of headers, paragraphs, and other primitive layout elements. In recent years, however, complex features have been added to HTML, including frames, dynamic HTML, and cascading styles. These extensions have served designers well, giving them more control over the appearance of their pages. And today designers have pixel level control over the layout of every element. Unfortunately, these enhancements have ignored the Web user. None of the recent additions to HTML help the user to traverse the Web or to find suitable information quickly. The article describes methods which make the Internet easier to use, including: adding value to links; line thickness control; color usage; icons and pop-ups; and preselection.