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ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion)

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Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:00:40 -0400
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Reply-To: Stephanie Brenton <[log in to unmask]>
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From: Stephanie Brenton <[log in to unmask]>
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I would like to hear some opinions on floating navigation.

It is for a very small website (8 pages total). It is implemented with
CSS positioning as a fixed element, so it behaves similarly to the
navigation at http://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/007/ (on the
right-side).

Unlike the example above, my navigation would be on the left. For
older browsers where this is not supported, it is absolutely
positioned (so that it moves off screen as do the rest of the
contents). Of course, there would be additional navigation (contextual
and Next/Previous links at the bottom of every page).

Pros and Cons as I see them...

Pros:
* I like that the floating makes the navigational menu available in
the same spacial location no matter how far the user scrolls downward.
* Users do not need to scroll back to the top of the screen if they
are below the fold and want to access the menu.

Cons:
* It only works in older browsers
* Space must be reserved for the menu so that it does not overlap
other content on the page. (There is not much content on this site.
Header on top, navigation on the left, middle column is text and a
third column for a vertical flickr badge.)

Am I missing anything?
Can anyone point me to guidelines for web interfaces that discourage
fixed positioning using CSS? (I have been criticized for using this
technique).

Thanks in advance,
Stephanie

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