Contenuto della pagina

Recommendations for optimal navigation

General navigation

• In accordance with Italian law, International regulations (WCAG 1, for example), and what web designers consider to be good practice, the system is automatically provided with multiple navigation systems.
• Main horizontal menu which is present on every page of the site. This enables the user to simply click back to any one of the main pages.
• Contextualised vertical menu of the current section. This enables the user to move around the contents of any particular area of the site which are linked by logic or function. This makes "thematic" navigation faster and also helps the user who is looking for specific information on the site.
• Breadcrumbs menu which indicates the location of the user within the logical structure of the contents. This function is not to be confused with that of the browser history which gives any individual user a chronological account of where they have been in the site and enables the user to retrace their steps if necessary. This function, on the other hand, is different, although equally important. It tells the user as quickly as possible where they are in the site NOT in relation to their own navigation route which may vary with each visit but in relation to the overall structure of the contents. 
• Contents map, which is automatically updated every time the contents structure changes, thus providing a valuable tool for a general overview of the information.

Advanced tools

• If a non-existent page is requested within a system the user is generally automatically sent back to the opening page to avoid worrying messages like "error 404" or "system error".
• As far as navigation tools are concerned, we could also mention the various search engine functions: a simple search function which is present on every page; advanced search functions based on inclusion or exclusion of specific terms; searches within thematic areas; and indexing of PDF attachments.
• There is a print facility on every page so you can print directly from the site. The print preview appears on-screen with its own print command button and, once given, the user can choose which font they want. In this way the contents can be adapted not only to the user but also to the use. A clear distinction is made between information which is read on-screen and the printed paper version.

Format of attached documents

• accessible in a technical-legal sense, so that attached texts (Doc or Rtf ) are created with style sheets, and alternative texts are created for any complex images and objects. In this way a similar methodology is applied to documents as is applied to web pages, namely that text alternatives are created for all non-text elements.
• accessible in the sense of not privately-owned, so that we try, wherever possible, not to use non-open formats for our files and prefer - when we can - RTF to DOC, CSV to XLS. If it is ever necessary to use owned formats, a list is provided of their main readers.
• PDF deserves a special mention. It started off as the Adobe owned format but has become the international standard format which can be used free on various operating systems and browsers. In 2006, PDF was officially adopted as the format for any electronic documents to be exchanged between Public Administration and citizens (official documents, certificates etc)