Our Web Site
The Museum of the History of Science has hosted its own Web site since 1995 and from the outset has featured online exhibits to disseminate the work of the museum and especially to showcase objects from the collection. The online presence has been evolving throughout the subsequent period. We’d like to describe here some of the more recent changes in its design and functionality.
Look and Feel
We spent some while considering a combination of factors: the content, its presentation and layout, including the placement of key information for prospective visitors. Hence, for example, we have included in the main banner contact details and opening hours.
Overall the inside pages retain the basic structure – a banner along the top, a navigation area on the left hand side, the main content in the middle and a sidebar to the right.
Navigation
Previously the main way to navigate this site was to use a single navigation menu down the left-hand side. However, with more than ten top-level headings plus the subheadings, the number of items displayed there soon was excessive.
So we have introduced a two-part navigation scheme. Along the top you will always see the main headings. When you click on these, the headings remain, but subheadings will appear in the lefthand menu. As you explore a particular section in greater depth, the links that appear there will provide navigation relevant for that context.
Usability aids
It’s important that our site is widely usable, a key component being accessibility. The choice of WordPress as a content management system and well-established plugins goes some way to making the site fundamentally sound. With the new design, we have added a new toolbar, which is accessible with the [i] icon, positioned next to the main navigation bar. This provides a collection of tools including adjustable font settings and text to speech screen-reading. This tool was developed originally for TechDis, a UK-based advisory service that has worked extensively in the fields of accessibility and inclusion.
Integration of the Museum’s Online Collections Catalogue
Objects from the museum’s collection can now be searched and browsed through this site (see under the Collections heading). The functionality has also been extended so that for instance, once you’ve found a record of interest, it is easier to find objects related – by name of maker and place.
The integration also makes it easier for any reference to objects to include links to the catalogue.
Online Exhibits
We are expanding this area to allow more general perusal of the exceedingly varied online exhibits and exhibitions that contribute a great deal to the distinctiveness of this Web site.
