Marlene,
I'm sorry I don't have any research to support these comments, but on
a gut instinct level, I don't think clicking in the top navigation to
activate the drop-down menus is good usability. Especially if
sometimes when you click, you get taken to another page.
I assume that on the pages with the drop-down, you'd have to repeat
the parent page name if there is one, so that users can then click to
go there. This sounds confusing. I think if you mock this up you'll
find that it looks funny and the inconsistent function of the buttons
is troublesome.
While I agree that the rollover drop-down can be a hassle to some, I
think it's becoming more and more standard. The scenario you describe
with clicking is not familiar to me at all. Is there research showing
that some people prefer clickable navigation to rollover menus?
It sounds like you're running into the problem where some parent
labels in the navigation are just a basket term for a collection of
subpages with no landing page of their own? You might be able to
solve this using a hover underscore style for menu items that link to
a subpage. Or, as I've done in some cases, throw together a brief
landing page that summarizes the sub content.
-- Kim
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Kim Bieler Graphic Design
www.kbgd.com
c. 240-476-3129
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