The North End Yoga web site has great images, good use of color, and a layout that’s organized and easy to navigate. There are problems, however, with legibility in the navigation menu.

Notice how the link text runs over the boundary into the main content area. And, it’s hard to read all caps and right aligned text. The navigation menu itself isn’t sized properly to fit the text. This leads to little or no margins, another factor contributing to poor readability. The good news is the blue color for mouseover and visited links is easy to see.

[Note: Since I first posted this article North End Yoga has updated their web site and fixed the text overlap.]

On the right is the navigation menu I designed for my client Contemporary Fusion. I used small caps instead of all caps for the link text. Small caps are easier to read than all caps. Why not use regular text here? Because I want to visually differentiate the navigation text from content text. On mouseover a link turns purple to match the overall color scheme used in the web site.

Start with a clear and consistent navigation system.  Next, make sure the design of your navigation menu is clear and easy to read.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for people who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Copyright 2009, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.