Technologies And Design Elements to Improve Website Navigation
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David Davis October 26, 2006
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As you browse the Web, you will find sites that implement just about
every type of navigation scheme you can think of and then even some
more! However, certain common factors do emerge. The use of menu bars,
either horizontally or vertically oriented, is the most common way of
allowing users to move through your site.
Sites with a great deal of content often implement dynamic menu
bars that change to present the most relevant options on each page.
Sites often use some kind of “feedback” or special effect to let users
know where certain navigation elements are located, such as graphics
that change colors when the users point their mouse at them.
You can use a variety of technologies and design elements to
implement Web site navigation. As you consider different navigation
techniques, keep the following seven basic comparison factors in mind:
Visual
Does the technique look and like a navigation element that users
are accustomed to seeing? In other words, is it a button or a menu that
users will recognize as a navigation element?
Feedback
Does the technique offer some form of feedback to indicate that a
user has pointed at or clicked a particular navigation element? This
type of feedback can be important because users often explore a site by
moving their mouse around to see what happens. Navigation techniques
that allow individual elements to respond to this activity make the
overall navigation more likely to succeed.
Accessibility
How does the technique work when a visually impaired person
attempts to use the site with a specially equipped Web browser? If this
demographic is important to your company, pay special attention to this
capability.
Overhead
Some techniques require the Web browser to server to transfer more
data to the Web browser than is required by other techniques. If your
customers will be accessing the site over slower connections, then
using techniques with a high overhead will result in slow page loads,
and possibly bored customers who will give up and move on to the
competition.
Scalability
Does the technique offer any particular advantages to make growing
the site easier? Some navigation designs may require you to redesign
the entire site every time a new feature is added. Others may simply
require a few minor modifications to add several new departments to a
menu.
Space
Some techniques, combined with your site’s browsing philosophy,
require considerable space on the screen. Other techniques allow you to
present a wider array of navigation choices while using less screen
space. Keep in mind that your navigation elements should never occupy
the majority of the screen. It is the content that your customers came
for, not the menu bars.
Compatibility
How well wills this technique work within the available range of
Web browsers? If one of your objectives is to have your site usable by
as many customers as possible, pay attention to the techniques that
offer a broad range of compatibility, and steer away those that are
limited to a smaller set of browsers.
Navigation Technologies
To implement Web site navigation, you can use one of four primary
technologies. The oldest and simplest of these technologies is the
basic, static HTML page. A step up from that is the static HTML page,
which is dynamically generated on the Web server. Web pages can be
given more interactive capabilities with Dynamic HTML (DHTML), whether
programmed in VBScript or JavaScript. Java presents the opportunity to
program a complete, standalone application to use as a navigation aid.
Static HTML
Static HTML links are the oldest and simplest form of navigation on
the Web. They can be less exciting than their dynamic counterparts, but
remain one of the most effective navigational techniques on the Web.
Dynamically Generated Static HTML
If your site is constantly growing and changing, static HTML will
require a constant effort to keep the navigational elements in line
with the site’s growth. A common solution to this problem has been to
dynamically generate the navigation elements when the page displays.
When using the DHTML, you don’t have to manually update elements as the
site grows, because an automated process generates the navigation
elements as necessary, based on the information in a database.
VBScript and JavaScript Dynamic HTML
DHTML is a technology that allows you to embed programming code in
the Web pages that are sent to user’s computers. DHTML code actually
executes within the users Web browser, and can change the appearance
and content of the Web page in response to the user’s actions on the
page.
Final Words
You can use a variety of technologies and design elements to
implement Web site navigation. As you consider different navigation
techniques, keep the above seven basic comparison factors in mind.
Visitors are becoming rare and rare in this competitive globe of
e-commerce. Retain those who visit to your site for longer period in
order to convert them as customers. Site navigation techniques help you
to do so.
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