6 Higher-Ed Examples of Mega Menus
Posted September 2nd, 2010 by Stewart FossThis one is for the trend watchers out there. In case you haven’t come across these yet, mega menus are the next big thing or maybe I’m a little late and they are the last big thing … either way thy are big (in a few ways). Even our favorite killjoy, Jakob Nielson, likes mega menus. So I asked myself, “who in higher-ed is using these things and how?” So here is my list of 6 higher-ed examples.
Asbury Seminary
Each item in their main menu becomes a multicolumn dropdown list of links when hovered over.
Boston University
As you hover over any item in the main menu the entire page slides down exposing their entire sub menu structure.
Connecticut State University System
Mousing over any of the main menu items produces a fly out that is organized under subheadings and often includes images.
Forsyth Tech
These menus include both a list of links on the left and a featured item to the right.
Grand Valley State University
Each menu item, when clicked, display an expanded menu that has been custom designed for the content it displays. The example below is their quicklinks which are each identified with a unique icon.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
By hovering over each item in the menu you display a multicolumn listing of links.
Have you come across any other examples? Share them in the comments.
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September 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 am
gonzaga.edu is another example
September 2nd, 2010 at 11:55 am
Siena College’s (www.siena.edu) combines a few of the features you have mentioned.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:26 pm
How readable are these things for users with visual impairments? I think it would be a nightmare to navigate with a screen reader. Thoughts?
September 8th, 2010 at 5:40 am
@Jeannie – Since these menus likely are build with unordered lists, I would think they would be screen reader friendly. But don’t quote me on that.
September 8th, 2010 at 6:14 am
Saginaw Valley State University adopted mega-menus when it redesigned its website a year ago. The mega menus are used on the homepage, subpages and quicklinks. Users absolutely love the quicklinks.
Perhaps the biggest challenge with mega menus is “protecting” this space with the requests that come to add additional links. So far, only 1 or 2 changes have been made.
September 8th, 2010 at 6:22 am
duke.edu also launched a “mega menu” last October. We extend it to other sites as well as an include file http://spotlights.duke.edu/knowledge Stanford has one as well.