Web Design - Design Elements: Introduction to Design - Typography and Navigation

Sections:  Introduction  |  Section 1  |  Section 2  |  Section 3

Section Two:  Part A  |  Part B  |  Part C  |  Part D  |  Part E  |  Part F  |  Part G

Navigation What is the Purpose of Web Site Navigation? Web site navigation is the structure and presentation of linked-pages within a site. The main purpose of web site navigation is to tell visitors what type of information is presented on your web site. This is important as visitors to your site want to know if your site has the content and information they are looking for. A clear navigation structure is designed to answer that question. An additional purpose of web site navigation is to help visitors access the information they are looking for quickly. Types of Web Site Navigation If you were to do a web search for the phrase "web site navigation" you would find a lot of resources. Interestingly enough, the information in the resources would vary from resource to resource - particularly in regard to the names and types of web site navigation that exist. To that end, the information listed herein will be somewhat generic. Essentially your web site navigation will be broken into three types: Global Navigation Local Navigation Functional Navigation Global navigation, also referred to as main navigation, contains the top level links of a web site. Local navigation, also referred to as sub-level navigation, contains links that are associated to a global navigation topic. Functional navigation includes links to functional or administrative information; to include: About Us links, Contact Us links, Terms of Use links, Copyright Information links, etc. Additionally, local navigation often features additional links that are meant to: Support the information presented on the page - Direct Navigation Inform you of your current location in the site - Breadcrumb Navigation Guide you through the information being presented - Step Navigation (Hasegawa, 2007) References: Hasegawa, Atsushi. (n.d.) The 7 navigation types of web site. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/atsushi/the-7-      navigation-types-of-web-site Next

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