java pull down menus

[Ben]

Hi,

Is having javascript pull down menua on a site considered bad? How are
these normally handled in an acceptable way? What are the alternatives?

There is a site I have in mind that has links on the left side of the
screen and pull down menus done via javascript along the top. The site
has big problems in non IE browsers and also uses frames. I might have
the opportunity to fix it up though (i.e. get rid of the frames, use
doctypes(!) etc.)

Thanks,
Ben

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?brucie?=]

Is having javascript pull down menua on a site considered bad?

do you have alternative navigation available for search engines or
people who have JS disabled/unavailable?

in any case that type of navigation is not user friendly. people have
to hunt for links to get around every time they want to go to a
different page and i don't think i've ever seen one that indicates
where you've already been.

think back to when you got a new program and had to look around in the
menus until you found (or found again) what you wanted. its even worse
on a site because people spend most of their time on other sites and
most probably don't want to invest the time and effort to learn how to
navigate your site. don't make people think. navigation should be as
simple as possible.

 

[Ben]

In post <[email protected]>
Ben said...




do you have alternative navigation available for search engines or
people who have JS disabled/unavailable?

The site is horrible. On a scale of 1 to 10 you would probably give it a
0. You totally lose the menus when JS is disabled. you won't get very
far at all in a browser like lynx and it doesn't even display right in
Mozilla (none of the menus show and everything is out of place). But if
you have IE you might not notice how bad it is. It has no doctype and
depends on frames too. Since I may have the opportunity to fix up the
site, I am thinking about the best approach around these menus. Maybe
clicking on a tab would be better and then you could have the menu items
on the side of the screen or something. Here it is btw:
http://tinyurl.com/orvx

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Ben pounced upon this pigeonhole and pronounced:

on the side of the screen or something. Here it is btw:
http://tinyurl.com/orvx

Just curious, but why did you need a tinyurl for:
http://www.cpi.com/

(I've seen worse sites... <g>)

 

[Ben]

Ben pounced upon this pigeonhole and pronounced:



Just curious, but why did you need a tinyurl for:

I prefered not to mention the company explicitely so they would not be
picked up in a search since I was not saying something complementary
about their web site design (they are interested in getting it fixed).
Though, if someone were searching for something on javascript menus they
could still get helpful information if they came across this thread and
mention of the site would not be essential especially since the site
will likely change in the future too.

regards,
Ben

 

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

Ben pounced upon this pigeonhole and pronounced:

I prefered not to mention the company explicitely so they would not be
picked up in a search since I was not saying something complementary ...

Ok, I can understand that. I deleted my post.