Derek Powazek‘s article “Embrace your bottom!” brings up some good points regarding the usage of sidebars that “compete” with a page’s main content.

Some designers prefer sidebars that “compete” with main content for attention because 1). it reduces the need for additional vertical scrolling and 2). it may have something to do with the mindset that the web is not linear, i.e. there typically does not have to be a proper sequence to pages — disparate or not. Derek said that

Those sidebar items are great for readers who just aren’t engaged in whatever they’re reading. They can skim down a paragraph or two and then link away to the next thing.

But sidebar items aren’t the only places for readers to “link away”. Contextual links in main content also serve to distract the reader and encourage linking away to other content. Don’t get me wrong — one-column layouts can be effective. But well-written content that “competes” with sidebars often wins out over said sidebars. Added to the mix are browsers with tabbing capabilities, which enable users to “link away” to sidebar content without taking their eyes off main content.

Derek has a good eye for design — I especially like his 19th century German-looking font he uses in his header images.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 16th, 2005 at 12:06 pm and is filed under technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.