Home, Class Schedule, About, Sitemap, and News
2. Regions-each page listed above has its own unique attributes. eventually these pages will give way to; HOMEWORK, CLASSNOTES, BELLRINGERS etc...
3. Nodes-I think I have made my site pretty basic so their should not be too much confusion. If their is I have a sitemap page that can help with navigation mistakes. also I have a search box to help search for certain tag words.
4. Landmarks- as you navigate from each page you will coninue to see the main navigation pages on the top of your screen sort of like the breadcrumb idea but not exactly.
Navigation tools and why?
I like the fact that the main pages never disappear. If my users get lost then they can refer to the top tool bar to find their way back. I also like the search box. This way users can search tag words. I would eventually like to have some kind of calendar with links to the days on the calendar. I think this would be a very usefull navigation tool. Kids could look specifically at the days that they missed or did not understand and get caught up or extra help.
Wayfinding Metaphor?
I think that this is where you can go overboard. I have read some of Nielson's articles about teens and usability and I think that this element if done incorrectly could really hurt you web page. I think that at first I would stick to one image that "defines" my home page. But if I use a web page that automatically shows my tool bar at the top would I even need an image that would help with navigation? I am confused. I guess in the end it would be nice to have som sort of image on each page that navigated to my email. So that my students would be able to email me from any page without having to navigate back to the main page. I can see that the images would help a little but other than the stereotypical "house" representing homepage, i am not sure how this will help me if I have a page that keeps a "breadcrumb" at the top of it.
Enterprise?
I believe the big aspect here is keep it simple and keep it consistant. I would have to incorporate some of the navigation features that my school district has on their web site. Having mine look and act differently ma cause confusion and worst of all frustration. However, what if my distirct has it all wrong and they neew to be more user friendly. Right now I would have to say they have some fixing up to do. I find our district page very hard to navigate. Other things that I have to consider are my classes. Do I want to specify a different look for different classes? Some of them are at different places in the content? Not sure how to answer this other than to keep it simple and consistent with other pages that share the same goals as mine and my district.
Basically this is what I think I want right now.
Will it work?
I have found that the blog site is great for information. I could use it for notes and day to day things. However, I think a more in depth web page it needed for assingments and extended lessons. I like what I have so far. It is the "F" approach that both W3C spoke of and Nielson in his interview. Where the audience reads across the top and down the left hand side. I also like the site map within my page and the fact that the top tool bar stays present throughout the search. these are charactoristics that my district uses on its page and to keep the "enterprise" happy I will try to do the same. So many things to think about and do. I love the CSS and HTML stuff how can anyone remember how to do all of it. So many steps.....:)
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