The Art of the Global Gateway

The Art of the Global Gateway A Four-Step Introduction to Globally Usable Web Navigation

Global Success Requires a Global Gateway

Much overlooked in Web design is the navigation system that directs users to their localized sites. A global gateway is much more than a "select country" pull-down menu on the home page. It is an all-encompassing term for the technologies and techniques you use to direct users to their locale- and language-specific sites.

Slide 13:

Building Gateways that Degrade Gracefully
A global gateway is like a net. You want to make sure you build it in such a way that nobody slips past. Many Web sites feature a global gateway on the home page and nowhere else, based on the assumption that all users will arrive through this one page. Yet there are any number of places within a site a user may first arrive. A search engine, for example, may send a user deep within your site; if there is no global gateway on this particular landing page, that user will likely assume there are no localized Web pages available and quickly leave.

Graceful degradation is the practice of building Web pages so that no user is left out. For example, if someone can't view a Flash site, a gracefully degrading site will send an HTML version of the site. Global degradation takes this concept and applies it to navigation, ensuring that users can find localized Web sites, regardless of how and where they first arrive at your site. The four steps included in this guide will help you build a site that catches as many users as possible.

This guide is for:

• Marketing managers who need to generate greater traffic to their country-specific Web sites.
• Web designers who want to know the best way to build a global gateway.
• Usability professionals who want to create a more globally usable navigation system.

Slide 26:

Contents:

• What is a Global Gateway?
• Examples of Global Gateways
  • The Confusing Gateway
  • The Hidden Gateway
  • The Missing Gateway
• Global Degradation in Four Parts:
  • Localized URLs
  • Content Negotiation
  • Splash Gateway
  • Permanent Gateway
• The Problem with Pull-downs
• Global Templates
• Additional Resources