Navigational Tools :: Websites Internet Technology Computers Essays

Navigational Tools When designing a website, a web designer must develop and spend a penny an effective way of navigating his or her website. When doing this job, the web designer must postponement the principle of compensation in mind. According to authors Killingsworth and Gilbertson in every revision of a textbook, some(prenominal)thing is lost and something is gained (45). Using this principle of compensation, a web designer must realize the consequences for choosing a picture, icon, or text to represent colligate on his or her web page. For each one there are advantages and drawbacks, which if weighed or balanced properly can enhance that web designers page. Human beings by nature are visually oriented therefore, the web designer should take in a satisfactory medium between the use and placement of either text or graphics. According to Brad Bachetti in his response Creating a Roadmap, If both text and graphics are used to represent the moreoverton, it is visually appeali ng to keep the text and graphics of equal width. This is exemplified on the main page of the WebCT course page (Bachetti). If we take a look at the WebCT course page, we forget find this to be true. The WebCT course page also exemplifies the principle of compensation. The pictures that accompany the text not only compliment each other in width and size, but also enhance each other. Together the pictures and text convey better meaning then they would if they stood alone, thus allowing for easy navigation on the course page.sometimes though a web designer may only want to use a picture, icon, or text to represent a link or navigational tool on a website. According to Principles of Web Design, by David and Jean Farkas, Links must make clear their destinations the page that the link will display (209). Using this simple principle put forth by the authors, a web designer may encounter problems when dealing with pictures and icons to represent links or navigational tools. According to Fa rkas, to design links that will communicate their destination clearly, you need to think about your audience and their information needs (Farkas 209). A picture and icon may have different connative or denotative meanings for people of a different age, gender, race, or nationality. That being stated icons and pictures have some significant advantages over text links. For example, a familiar one is processed faster, icons communicate across languages and cultures, they are visually interesting, and they often save space (Farkas 211).