Describe ways to design a website for easy information access.
When designing a website, you need to make sure that users can find the information they are seeking fast and easily.
One way to do this is to add search capabilities to the site. Two search features you can add to your site are a Static index or Site map and a search engine.
This type of search feature is simply a Web page within a site with hyperlinks to the different content on that site.
This type of searching is not interactive, users do not have the option of typing in a keyword or phrase.
Instead, users are given a list of content to choose from and must click links until they locate the information.
This is a test to see if the background will change.
Search engines provide an interactive way for users to find information on a particular website.
They are considered secondary navigational devices and are most useful when you know what you are looking for. This is called known item searching. website developers can build a search engine into their site. Users can then type in keywords for faster results.
Two examples of sites that allow users to do keyword searches within their site are
DELL
and
Amazon.
An effective search engine is essential for sites rich with content, such as descriptions of many products or archives of many files.
A well-designed search engine is a powerful navigational tool for an experienced or a novice Web user.
In the next lesson, more about browser and cross-platform compatibility issues in Web design will be discussed.