This paper describes how visual search is managed in hypertext documents. A classification of hypertext links, is presented, taking into account the visual and linguistic aspects of the material. This taxonomy is based on four dimensions: the user?s task (search for information vs. search for action), the destination page (' standard links '? go to a specific page; ' section links '? lead to a more general one in which users have to specify their request by clicking on sub-links; ' command links '? go to a dynamically created page, thus showing the effects of user actions), the text structure (nouns, verbs, syntax,?etc.) and the layout (the visual aspect and the disposition of links). Mixing the user?s task (information vs. action) and the destination page (standard vs. section gave 4 experimental conditions).
Taking this classification into consideration, the experiment focussed on the influence of layout and text structure on what we have called the ' standard information '? hypertext condition. The effects of the layout (pages presented in columns or in rows), and the syntactic structure (declarations, exclamations or questions), together with their large significant influence on ocular inspection during an information search task have been analysed. Several visual searching profiles have been identified by using the eye movements? recording technique. In these, the total fixation duration, the number of fixations, the landing position and the errors rate are all dependent variables. In particular, some global exploration strategies affected by the page?s layout and some local searching selective strategies resulting from the syntactic structure have been identified. These results are especially important for applications in which the optimisation of hypertext links is crucial, such as e-learning or e-business.