Lesson 1.8

Navigation around the web Site

No matter how attractive  the  web  site  is, if  it  does not  have  a simple navigation  scheme, users are  going to lose their  way. Some of them may probably never return. The navigational scheme would vary from one site to another. There are, however, some basic principles that one should keep in mind:

Ø  Specify the content of the web site

Ø  Create a navigation scheme that helps them  to go the  required section quickly

Ø  Provide means to search for  additional information

        

  There are several ways to organize a web site:

Linear Layout – This follows a linear structure. There is a sequential link between the

pages. Each page has a link to the previous and next page. The last page has a link to the

first page. This format is used when we are   presenting sequential information. For 

  example, chapters  of  a book  or  slides  of  a  presentation  that  requires  the  user to  read  the  information in sequential order 

                                                            Figure 1.16: Linear layout

Ø  Hierarchical layout – This   is the most common layout that is used in the website designing.

The home page has links to several other pages. The user can select a link and “jump” to the required page. Each page has   a link to the home page.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Figure 1.17: Hierarchical layout

   Ø  Image maps – Some users find visual representation easier to understand, so, image maps or site maps are included into most home pages. When the user clicks on a hotspot, the related document is displayed.

Once we decide on the navigation scheme it is time to design the document. There are a few guidelines that should be kept in mind:

Ø   Hyperlinks should   be obvious. The word should appear in blue underlined type, because on the web, blue text conventionally signifies a hyperlink.  Hyperlinks should typically appear at the end of a page .If they appear in the   middle of a paragraph, it tends to divert the reader from the   topic.

Ø  Sub-pages should have a menu bar or navigation bar, otherwise readers are likely to lose sight of   the main pages. If the user clicks   any one of the icons in the navigation bar, then the user jump to from the current page to the new page.

     

Ø  Always have a Table of Content for users   to jump to a particular topic. The Table of Content (TOC) is displayed at the button in the page. The user can click a particular topic to jump to the required page.

Ø   Always  include  a  Back  and  Forward  button in  the  pages so that   the  user can  navigate  to  the  required  page. While  the  browser  does  provide  these  options  it  uses  the  pages  in  the  history   list, may  not be  the  associated  page  in  the  Web site