Structure your website for accessibilityHome > Free Business Articles > Structure your website for accessibilityOur day-to-day professional and social lives rarely demand that we create detailed architectures of what we know and how those structures of information are linked. Yet without a solid and logical organizational foundation, your Web site will not function well even if your basic content is accurate, attractive, and well written. Cognitive psychologists have known for decades that most people can hold only about four to seven discrete chunks of information in short-term memory. The way people seek and use reference information also suggests that smaller, discrete units of information are more functional and easier to handle than long, undifferentiated tracts. There are five basic steps in organizing your information:
Basic information structures Web sites are built around basic structural themes. These fundamental architectures govern the navigational interface of the Web site and mold the user's mental models of how the information is organized. Three essential structures can be used to build a Web site: sequences, hierarchies, and webs. Sequences The simplest way to organize information is to place it in a sequence. Sequential ordering may be chronological, a logical series of topics progressing from the general to the specific, or alphabetical, as in indexes, encyclopedias, and glossaries. Straight sequences are the most appropriate organization for training sites, for example, in which the reader is expected to go through a fixed set of material and the only links are those that support the linear navigation path: Hierarchies Information hierarchies are the best way to organize most complex bodies of information. Because Web sites are usually organized around a single home page, hierarchical schemes are particularly suited to Web site organization. Hierarchical diagrams are very familiar in corporate and institutional life, so most users find this structure easy to understand. A hierarchical organization also imposes a useful discipline on your own analytical approach to your content, because hierarchies are practical only with well-organized material. Webs Weblike organizational structures pose few restrictions on the pattern of information use. In this structure the goal is often to mimic associative thought and the free flow of ideas, allowing users to follow their interests in a unique, heuristic, idiosyncratic pattern. This organizational pattern develops with dense links both to information elsewhere in the site and to information at other sites. Although the goal of this organization is to exploit the Web's power of linkage and association to the fullest, weblike structures can just as easily propagate confusion. Ironically, associative organizational schemes are often the most impractical structure for Web sites because they are so hard for the user to understand and predict. Webs work best for small sites dominated by lists of links and for sites aimed at highly educated or experienced users looking for further education or enrichment and not for a basic understanding of a topic. Itemize common page elements and detail their content Common web page elements are those that appear on every page - or nearly every page - of your site. Your logo, web site navigation, web site search, and copyright notice are all examples of common page elements. Itemize each web page and detail the content it requires Determine and itemize the content you'll need for each web page on your site. For example, your About Us page may contain an overview of your business and photos of key staff members. Your Contact Us page might contain the details of your business's office locations and opening hours, along with a contact form, phone and fax numbers, and an interactive map. Your Products page would likely contain product codes, descriptions, and images. Site elements Web sites vary enormously in their style, content, organization, and purpose, but all Web sites that are designed primarily to act as information resources share certain characteristics.
One final point DO NOT use and 'Under construction pages'
If the page is not ready, don't put it up. If you have links that are pointing to the pages, disable them until your page is ready. If your page is truly 'under construction' and has content on it that is ready to be seen by your web surfers, just post a 'last updated' date and make sure you get the new content in place soon. What ever you do, don't put one of those cheesy 'under construction' images on the page.
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