Navigational aid

Navigational aid for mobile devices

Easy to access, non-intrusive navigation is important on a mobile device. Displaying long table of contents at the top of every page forces mobile device user to scroll to the important content. This section describes a special navigational aid: a link at the top of the page that opens a dynamic table of contents for the site.

The tool is implemented with JavaScript that dynamically scans the document for elements marked with id=”navigation” and fetches the navigation content. The script also creates links for the Heading elements used within the current page. Because the script fetches the content dynamically from the page contents, there is no need for constant upkeep or maintenance of a separate navigation list: the navigation tool is automatically updated as long as the new elements follow the structure used by the script.

Note that the tool should only support normal navigation, not replace it completely. Some users may have switched off the script, in which case the presence of traditional navigation is essential.

The script can be customized to include the necessary elements required by the site design and the designer. For an example of the code to create the navigation aid, see Navigational aid example code. You can also download the example from Movinav example files.