Website Navigation

Website Navigation

"Poor navigation makes us think. Better navigation makes us think less. Great navigation is so obvious we don't have to think at all" (C Pinsonnault, Web Site Navigation Best Practices February 13th, 2007, p. 1). In a time when we have microwave popcorn and instant meals, GPRS navigation system that is an almost standard feature in vehicles today and automated tax calculation software, we should not have to go to a website and wonder what to do next. Knowing where we are and where we were and where else we can go, are so important when it comes to website navigation. A web surfer who finds it hard to find their way through a website would more than likely leave the site and go to one that is easy to walk through.

There are several websites on the internet now that seem to have a grasp on the best practices for website navigation. One of my personal favorites is the Amazon shopping website. From anywhere in the website you can find your way back to the home page. There is also a section on the homepage which shows items you may be interested in. if you choose to visit "Your Account", there is a heading indicating such and any other pages you visit within the "Your Account" module. Something to note, the use of graphics on the page is there to show customers at first glance a description of the item and to differentiate it from an item that me be similar to what the viewer is looking for.

Other examples of proper functionality in site navigation are http://www.guardian.co.tt/, http://www.apple.com/ and http://www.bbc.co.uk/. In each design you know exactly where you are, where you have been and where you can be at any given time and page you are browsing. The navigation bar located at the top remains on all pages visited and if there is any mix up while browsing you can get back to home with the click of the mouse. Example 1 Figure shows the site navigation bar for Amazon.com.

Example 1Figure

Web Development Tools

Web Development is basically the term used for the process involved in building a website for either the internet which is accessible by anyone on the World Wide Web, or an intranet which is accessible only by viewers within a private institution or network. Although the construction of a website encompasses design, research and other aspects such as hardware configuration, development of a website is centered on the actual writing of code and design of the website.

There are several web development tools or software on the market that can aid in the development of a website. Adobe Dreamweaver, Web Studio and HTML Kit, to name a few are some of the more popular development tools available.

Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 or the entire Adobe CS5 suite, formerly a Macromedia product can be considered to be the