RE: Terminology for web page elements

[dodd -at- teleport -dot- com]

Joe got it exactly right -- I'm looking for the names of page regions. I know I can use the words tab, tab bar, fields, box, navigation bar, Address box, and etc., but it's all those other areas/regions that don't fit into any of these categories whose names I'm looking for.

Many times, these areas/regions/zones are named, I guess I can say (this is an example only) "In the Recipient region, click Submit" or some such, but is "region" the right term? But the question is, is it a "region," an "area," a "zone," or what? And then, what do I call them when they're not named? Maybe I can call them by their color or shading, as in the "gray zone." 

The pages are well designed, pretty much, and I have some input on that, but that still doesn't get rid of the problem of what to call these "areas/regions/zones."

thanks for your help -- 

Patrice



Message: 24
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:11:02 -0700
From: "Joe Malin" <jmalin -at- tuvox -dot- com>
Subject: RE: Terminology for web page elements
To: <dodd -at- teleport -dot- com>,	<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Message-ID:
	<144FACB355C4F7469CE7D9B7E51E327F023A583B -at- tuvoxex -dot- tuvox -dot- com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

I don't think that a standard for web pages exists. I see that most
documentation uses Windows-like nomenclature for controls, but page
regions are another story.

I worked at Oracle, which had a usability standards department that
defined these regions. I think it's a good standard, most of all because
Oracle tries to enforce it with reviews and software tools. However,
it's only good for Oracle.

If your company does a lot of web pages and has a consistent style for
them, you may need to come up with a standard naming convention. I
probably have to do the same for a project I'm working on.

Joe



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