ergonomic TOCs (was RE: STC Annual Conference trip reports?)

["Rock, Megan" <Megan -dot- Rock -at- fanucrobotics -dot- com>]

Janice Gelb wrote:

> One very interesting point they made was that studies
> show that, contrary to our visual instincts, it's
> actually better ergonomically to have clickable TOCs
> and links on the right side of the page rather than
> the left for easier mousing.

Bruce Byfield wrote:

They're on to us. The habit of putting links on the left are one
of the few perks that lefties like me enjoy. 

Megan writes:

It seems to me that the reason it's theoretically better to have the links
on the right side is because the scrollbar is on the right.  If you don't
have a wheelie-mouse (Intellimouse, etc.), you have to move your mouse
pointer to the right side to scroll down the page, so having the links on
that side would save you time and mousing energy, whether you're a righty or
a lefty.

Of course, my brain finds a page to be out of balance if the links are all
on the right instead of on the left.  I prefer links on the left, across the
top or bottom, or equally distributed on the left and right with main
content placed in the middle.  And I have a wheelie-mouse at work and at
home, so easy access to the scrollbar isn't an issue.  (I suppose in ten
years they'll be telling me that I've greatly increased my risk of getting a
repetitive stress injury in my pointer finger for using the mouse wheel so
much...)

Cheers!

Megan E. Rock
   Technical Writer
   Product Information
   megan -dot- rock -at- fanucrobotics -dot- com

All views expressed are entirely my own and are not necessarily shared
by my friends, co-workers, or employer.