A method and mechanism for enabling the creation and/or control of interactive television content using declarative-like directives such as HTML, scripting languages, or other languages. A a centrally located proxy server is configured to receive, transcode and convey transcoded web based content to client devices. Upon detecting directives which indicate particular resources required for a presentation are prerequisites, the proxy server conveys signals to a client device that these particular resources are prerequisites. In response to receiving the conveyed signals, the client device may take actions to prefetch these resources. The client device is further configured to prohibit initiation of the presentation until the prerequisite resources are acquired.