Re: Navigation Bars

From: Susan Petracco <susandaniels(at)hotmail.com>
>...I think it's because you are designing for different resolutions, so
>you never know exactly where the right edge is?...

As Vars pointed out, it is because most "Western" (ie. Indo-European)
languages are written left-to-right, top-to-bottom. This is due to the
strokes on the characters mimicing chisled runes and glyphs that were
created by predominately right-handed people.

>Also, consistency is very important on the web...

Indeed.

From: Vars Diane E NPRI <VarsDE(at)Npt.NUWC.Navy.Mil>
>...I think it is natural to
>put a menu on the left because we read from left to right and so we tend to
>look at the left side first.  You might want a menu on the right if you
want
>to be different than most everyone else...

This is true for most "Western" languages. Perhaps there were more
left-handed scribes in ancient Middle-Eastern and Asian times.

It may in fact be more likely that in Chinese websites, for instance, the
navbar runs along the top or bottom because the title would be running
top-to-bottom on the right-hand side of the page.


Whatever navigation metaphor you care to find, it is usually based on a
physical analogy like the index, table of contents, file tabs, cabinet,
bookshelf, etc. This is what makes it "intuitive" or "easy" for even newbies
to understand.

As Pam points out, whilst "innovative" or "fresh" ideas for navigation can
be fun, if they are counter-intuitive they are counter-productive.

Just watch out for my abacus-style navigation - it's a knockout! ;-)


Regards,
Joshua Graham

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