- From: Lois Wakeman <lois@lois.co.uk>
- Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 15:30:23 -0000
- To: "WAI list" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Jonathan, Some random thoughts on humane navigation in general: Another way to look at navigation is to take the location/orientation/direction approach: where am I now?/where do I want to go?/how do I get there? Answer those on each page and you have it cracked. Alphabetical can be good, as long as it is written like a professional index - that is, using terms familiar to the audience and as many synonyms and word forms as possible. Trade-off is length (difficulty in assimilation and scanning) vs. usefulness (richness of terms). Category/topic lists can sometimes be presented in alternative ways. For example, in intranets or organisational directories, it is useful to have listings by function as well as by org. unit/departmental structure. Alternative ways to present navigational info on the page expected by majority of users: menus at the left, link lists at the foot, home link top left, breadcrumb trails etc. Easily scanned links, with signposts for standard kinds on info. HTH Lois Wakeman (with my IA hat on) ------------------------------------------------------ http://lois.co.uk http://siteusability.com http://communicationarts.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------
Received on Tuesday, 11 February 2003 11:00:14 UTC