The Internet provides users access to a multitude of web sites. These web sites can be made up of web pages, which may be linked together using a hypertext markup language (“HTML”) code. There is currently no standard procedure for navigating through a web site to pages located at an intermediate or lower level. Different web sites may have different link structures and interfaces. This can make navigating different web sites much more complex and demanding than necessary.
Some of the existing approaches to providing or facilitating web site navigation may suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages:                a) Locating a navigation menu on current web sites can be a time-consuming process. The placement of such a menu can differ from one web site to another. Current web sites may have the top-level menu links located at or near the top of a web page, or in a column on the left or right side of a page. Certain web sites may also have unique or non-standard navigation aids or menus.        b) Locating specific menu content on current web sites can be a time-consuming process. The placement of, for example, the contact information within a link structure is not standardized among different web sites, which can require the user to locate it for each individual site.        c) The layout of menus on a given web site can make navigation a time-consuming process. Menus for various web pages may differ in design, colors, fonts, graphics, symbols, pictures and/or text size.        d) Navigating to a web page that is several levels deep within a web site can be a time-consuming process. A web site may include a plurality of pages linked together in a hierarchic structure that may contain several levels. To reach the web page that is several levels deep in the site hierarchy, the user may need to browse the pages on the levels in-between to access the specific web page.        e) To navigate a web site, each web page may have to be loaded into the browser. It may not be possible to navigate down to any specific page within a web site directly, or to only load a desired page without loading or browsing intervening pages.        f) In a conventional site navigation, the total link structure often may not be available from all web pages. Many web sites can require that the navigation begins from the first page of the web site. When browsing a page at a sublevel, a user may be required to return to the first page to then navigate to a different category, instead of having all possible category links available from every page within the site.        g) It may not be possible to select the language of the menu labels for a web site.        h) Creating a navigational menu on the web site can require an implementation of a specific link structure on each web site, either by manually providing such information or by using software or web publishing systems to create it. The link structure for each web site may also have to be implemented on the specific web site.        i) Browsing web content on small-screen devices, such as personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) and mobile phones, can be difficult because it may be hard to both view and select specific items on the available menus.        j) Browsing the web content on a television-based system may be difficult because a movement of the cursor on such systems via a remote control can be inaccurate.        
Thus, there is a clear need to provide navigational aids and menus for existing and new web sites, which can improve access to the specific content and web pages within these sites.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds