A form of readable text on a computer containing hypertext links. Hypertext links are a kind of active cross-reference. They consist of underlined text you can click with the mouse to read about related topics. (For example, click here to read about the Main Menu window.) People often read ordinary printed text from start to finish, but hypertext lends itself to browsing in any order. The online help in PC Access (and other Windows programs) is an example of hypertext. The largest hypertext system in existence is, of course, the World Wide Web .