Usability Essay

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Discuss usability and maintainability in terms of navigation of Web sites. Any user that ventures unto a specific website seeks explicit information, and if that user is unable to find said information, that user is more likely to leave the site and find a site more accommodating to his/her needs. It is the function of the navigation menu to aid users in locating what material is being sought. According to Eccher (2015, p.70), usability and maintainability are two important concerns when creating the navigation menus of a website and that the menu is a key element of effective website design (Eccher, 2015, p. 70). Usability as it relates to navigation bars will be discussed below, while maintainability will be addressed not only as it applies to navigating a website, but also as it relates to keeping website current for users to able to navigate the site. Usability As indicated, usability is the ability of a user to find the information he/she seeks, process the information, and perform whatever functions as needed (Eccher, 2015, p. 7). The use of a navigation menu allows the user to peruse the website. There exist four primary pathways by which users are able to navigate a website: use of hyperlinks, streamline the navigation bar, keep sidebars separate, and include footers. Hyperlinks will be examined initially. Hyperlinks …show more content…

This includes the copyright information for the website, the name of the website 's author, the business name and address, if applicable, and the date of the most recent update. Some Web page footers include links to other pages within the website, an email link or an RSS link. The top of the Web page contains the most valuable "real estate" on the website, so footer content is of lesser importance. The footer is coded in either CCS or HTML. Footers should be designed for the user, should consolidate the number of links, should be neat and tidy, and kept simple (Miller,

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