Navigation

Last Updated: April 22, 2024

Navigation Administrators

Currently, only the Web Platforms team members have administrative access to edit the main navigation drop down menus. These permissions are limited to ensure consistency, alignment and quality of our content to ensure only authorized administrators can make changes, update or remove content. This improves the integrity of our content preventing unapproved changes, errors or deletions of website navigation content which helps maintain a positive user experience while navigating the Foundation website.

Navigation Best Practices

Technical Character Limits

• Overview Title: 2 lines (~20 characters)
• Overview Description: 7-8 lines (~100 characters)
• Column Title: 1 line (~18 characters)
• Nav Link: 2 lines (~25 characters)
• Nav Link Description: 3 lines (~50 characters)

Please note:

• When content is localized, content may appear longer than EN so keeping text succinct where possible
• Text beyond limits will truncate ...

Navigation Link Label Wording Tips

• Clear language: Create meaningful distinctions for people by reducing the use of jargon, branded terms, organization comms and unclear words (people will struggle to understand it and likely to ignore those navigation items)
• Front-loading: Labels should be front-loaded with the most important or distinctive word first
• Context Cues: Use descriptions to provide more context, visual signifier or related groupings to help people locate, discover or rediscover this content
• User centric: Label language must match user goals
  • What words are our users using to describe what they are looking for or interested in if it is a known item? How can we support people discovering unfamiliar or uncertain items of concepts with the navigation, synonyms or related concepts?
    
• Bad practices:
  • Avoid using vague verbs and low information scent labels: they are too ambiguous, generic and not specific enough for people as it becomes hard to anticipate what they’d find
  • Avoid overlapping language: it becomes hard to guess what is the difference or distinctions between items
  • Avoid repetitive labels: as it makes it harder to scan and less accessible

Organization Tips

• Familiarization: Understand the content you’re organizing before you start (to understand what context cues support your content and which organizing scheme to use)
• User centric: Topic or task organization need to match users’ needs
  
• Bad practices:
  • Avoid shipping the organization’s communication structure or chart (it is internally logical but confusing and not meaningful for people)