(Shelly Cashman Series) Gary B. Shelly, H. Albert Napier, Ollie N. Rivers-Web design_ introductory concepts and techniques -Cengage Learning (2008)

Page Length, Content Placement, and Usability 101
You have no control over visitors’ monitor resolution or scrolling habits. To
increase usability, take care to place important content, such as logos, names, and
major links, above and to the left of potential scroll lines.
DESIGN
TIP
To increase usability and promote unity, you should also position visual identity and
navigation content above and to the left of the potential scroll lines on underlying pages.
By their nature, underlying pages provide greater detail in support of a specific topic or
Web site feature and might not lend themselves to a single page of text, graphics, and
other content. When it is necessary to extend Web page content beyond a single visible
screen, consider creating a page that is no longer than two screens of content. By following
the two-screen guideline, your visitors will not need to scroll excessively to view the
page’s entirety. If you cannot limit a Web page to two screens, provide “top of page” links
at logical positions within the page so that your visitors can quickly return to the top of
the Web page, as shown in Figure 4-2. Web pages intended to be printed and read offline
provide an exception to the two-screen guideline. Pages intended to be printed should be
left full length without “top of page” links.
top of
page link
Figure 4-2 Top of page links on pages that extend beyond one screen allow visitors to
quickly return to the top of the page.
If vertical scrolling is necessary, ensure a logical flow of information. Horizontal
scrolling should be avoided on all pages. Add “top of page” links at logical positions
within the page that flows beyond two screens and is not intended to be
printed and read offline.
DESIGN
TIP
Another issue to consider in content positioning is where visitors typically look first
when viewing a Web page. Eye tracking studies use various technologies to produce
heat maps in which data is represented by color. Eye tracking heat maps are created by