EMPHASIZING A PORTION OF THE VISIBLE CONTENT ELEMENTS OF A MARKUP LANGUAGE DOCUMENT

1 . A method comprising:

with a viewing application processing at least one markup language document, executing instructions incorporated with the at least one markup language document to carry out acts of:

determining a group of one or more visible content elements, of at least one markup language document, to be highlighted in a display of the at least one markup language document; and

editing markup elements relating to the one or more visible content elements to visually separate the one or more visible content elements from surrounding visible content elements, wherein the editing comprises:

editing at least one first markup element to specify a graphic to display as a background of the one or more visible content elements; and

editing at least one second markup element to specify a first border surrounding the one or more visible content elements.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining dimensions of display areas of each visible content element of the group of one or more visible content elements; and

based on the dimensions of the display areas of each visible content element of the group, determining dimensions of a group display area that includes the one or more visible content elements of the group and does not include other visible content elements.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining dimensions of the group display area comprises:

identifying a default background of the group of one or more visible content elements;

determining a rectangular display area that includes the display areas of each visible content element of the group;

determining whether any other visible content element, of the at least one markup language document, that is not a part of the group is disposed at least partially within the rectangular display area;

in response to determining that no other visible content element is disposed at least partially within the rectangular display area, setting dimensions of the rectangular display area as the dimensions of the group display area; and

in response to determining that at least one other visible content element is disposed at least partially within the rectangular display area,

determining, from the rectangular display area, a revised display area that includes the one or more visible content elements of the group and does not include the at least one other visible content element, and

setting dimensions of the revised display area as the dimensions of the group display area.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein:

editing the at least one first markup element to specify the graphic to display as the background comprises configuring a first vector graphic based on the dimensions of the group display area and editing the at least one first markup element to specify that the first vector graphic is to be displayed as the background of the group of one or more visible content elements; and

editing the at least one second markup element to specify the first border comprises configuring a second vector graphic based on the dimensions of the group display area and editing the at least one second markup element to specify that the second vector graphic is to be displayed as the border surrounding the group of one or more visible content elements.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:

configuring the first vector graphic based on the dimensions of the group display area comprises:

expanding the dimensions of the group display area by a first amount to produce a first set of revised dimensions covering the group display area and a first margin area around the group display area, and

specifying a size and shape of a polygon of the first vector graphic, based on the first set of revised dimensions;

editing the at least one first markup element to specify that the first vector graphic is to be displayed as the background of the one or more visible content elements comprises inserting at least one first new markup element into the at least one markup language document specifying that the first vector graphic is to be displayed as the background;

configuring the second vector graphic based on the dimensions of the group display area comprises:

specifying a shape of a first line based on the first set of revised dimensions and specifying a width of the first line;

editing the at least one first markup element to specify that the second vector graphic is to be displayed around the first vector graphic the one or more visible content elements comprises inserting at least one second new markup element into the at least one markup language document specifying that the second vector graphic is to be displayed alongside the first vector graphic.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

expanding the dimensions of the group display area by a second amount to produce a second set of revised dimensions covering the group display area and a second margin area around the group display area, the second margin area having a width matching the width of the line; and

wherein editing the markup elements relating to the one or more visible content elements to visually separate the one or more visible content elements from surrounding visible content elements further comprises:

specifying a shape of a second line based on the second set of revised dimensions and specifying a width of the second line; and

inserting at least one third new markup element into the at least one markup language document specifying that the second line is to be displayed alongside the first vector graphic.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein:

specifying the size and the shape of the polygon of the first vector graphic comprises specifying the size and shape in a markup language;

specifying the shape and weight of the first line of the second vector graphic comprises the shape and the weight in the markup language; and

specifying the shape and weight of the second line of the third vector graphic comprises the shape and the weight in the markup language.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein:

specifying the shape of the first line comprises adjusting the first set of revised dimensions to include rounded corners for the first line; and

specifying the shape of the second line comprises adjusting the second set of revised dimensions to include rounded corners for the second line.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

editing the at least one first markup element to specify a graphic to display as the background of the one or more visible content elements comprises modifying at least one existing markup element regarding the one or more visible content elements to set a background attribute of the at least one existing markup element; and

editing the at least one second markup element to specify the first border surrounding the one or more visible content elements comprises inserting at least one new markup element specifying the border and indicating that the border is to be displayed at a position surrounding the one or more visible content elements.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein modifying at least one existing markup element regarding the one or more visible content elements to set the background attribute of the at least one existing markup element comprises, in response to determining that the at least one existing markup element specifies at least one first background graphic of the one or more visible content elements, modifying the at least one existing markup element to specify a second background graphic to display below the at least one first background graphic.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

editing the at least one first markup element to specify a graphic to display as the background of the one or more visible content elements comprises inserting at least one first new markup element specifying the graphic and indicating that the graphic is to be displayed at a position overlapping with and behind the one or more visible content elements; and

editing the at least one second markup element to specify the first border surrounding the one or more visible content elements comprises inserting at least one second new markup element specifying the border and indicating that the border is to be displayed at a position surrounding the one or more visible content elements.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

editing at least one third markup element to specify a second border surrounding the first border and the one or more visible content elements.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the at least one second markup element specifies a different color for the first border than the at least one third markup element specifies for the second border; and

the at least one second markup elements specifies the same color for the background and for the first border.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the method further comprises receiving user input indicating a first visible content element of the at least one markup language document;

the determining and the editing are performed in response to receiving the user input;

the group of one or more visible content elements comprises the first visible content element;

determining the group of one or more visible content elements comprises determining whether a layout of the at least one markup language document indicates the first visible content element is one of a distinct set of two or more visible content elements distinct from surrounding visible content elements; and

editing the markup elements relating to the one or more visible content elements to visually separate the one or more visible content elements from surrounding visible content elements comprises, in response to determining that the layout indicates that the first visible content element is a member of a distinct set, editing the markup elements to visually separate the distinct set of two or more visible content elements from the surrounding visible content elements.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein:

receiving the user input comprises receiving information regarding movement of a cursor of a pointing device;

the method further comprises, in response to receiving the information regarding the movement of the cursor, determining whether the cursor has moved outside of a display area of a previously-identified group of one or more visible content elements for which the at least one markup language document was edited to visually separate from other visible content elements surrounding the previously-identified group; and

the determining and the editing are performed in response to receiving the user input and determining that the cursor has moved outside the display area of the previously-identified group.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the method further comprises, in response to determining that the cursor has moved outside the display area of the previously-identified group, editing second markup elements of the at least one markup language document relating to the previously-identified group undo prior edits to visually separate the previously-identified group from other visible content elements surrounding the previously-identified group;

the method further comprises, in response to determining the group of one or more visible content elements and prior to editing the markup elements relating to the one or more visible content elements, storing an unedited form of the markup elements relating to the one or more visible content elements;

the method further comprises:

receiving a subsequent user input regarding subsequent movement of the cursor of the pointing device; and

in response to the subsequent user input, determining whether the cursor has moved outside of a display area of the group of one or more visible content elements; and

in response to determining that the cursor has moved outside the display area of the group of one or more visible content elements, undoing the editing of the markup elements to visually separate the one or more visible content elements at least in part by editing the markup elements to restore the markup elements to the unedited form.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one markup language document is at least one document of a web page; and

the viewing application is a web browser.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

with the viewing application, editing the at least one markup language document to insert the executable instructions into the at least one markup language document.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions incorporated with the at least one markup language document define the determining and the editing to be independent of the at least one markup language document and applicable to other markup language documents.

20 . At least one computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon at least one markup language document having incorporated therein executable instructions, wherein the executable instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising:

editing markup elements, of at least one markup language document, relating to a set of one or more visible content elements to visually separate the set of one or more visible content elements from surrounding visible content elements, the editing comprising:

determining dimensions of a display area including the one or more visible content elements;

calculating, based on the dimensions, first expanded dimensions including the display area and a first margin area surrounding the display area;

calculating, based on the dimensions, second expanded dimensions including the display area, the first margin area, and a second margin area surrounding the display area;

editing the at least one markup language document to insert a first new visible content element as a background graphic of the one or more visible content element, the background graphic being a vector graphic specifying a polygon having dimensions of the display area and having a first color;

editing the at least one markup language document to insert one or more first new markup elements defining a second new visible content element positioned overlapping the one or more visible content elements, the second new visible content element being a vector graphic including a line having a size and shape specified according to the first expanded dimensions to surround the display area and having the first color; and

editing the at least one markup language document to insert one or more second new markup elements defining a third new visible content element positioned overlapping the one or more visible content elements, the third new visible content element being a vector graphic including a line having a size and shape specified according to the second expanded dimensions to surround the display area and the first margin area and having a second color.

21 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein:

the editing is performed in response to detecting a cursor of a pointing device positioned over one of the one or more visible content elements;

the method further comprises storing an unedited form of the markup elements relating to the set of one or more visible content elements; and

the method further comprises, in response to detecting that the cursor of the pointing device is no longer positioned over the one or more visible content elements, editing the markup elements to restore the markup elements to the unedited form, wherein editing the markup elements to restore the markup elements to the unedited form comprises removing from the at least one markup language document the first new visible content element, the second new visible content element, and the third new visible content element.

22 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising:

with a viewing application processing at least one markup language document, executing instructions incorporated with the at least one markup language document to carry out acts of:

determining a group of one or more visible content elements, of at least one markup language document, to be highlighted in a display of the at least one markup language document; and

editing markup elements relating to the one or more visible content elements to visually separate the one or more visible content elements from surrounding visible content elements, wherein the editing comprises:

editing at least one first markup element to specify a graphic to display as a background of the one or more visible content elements; and

editing at least one second markup element to specify a first border surrounding the one or more visible content elements.