I'm thinking out aloud here: not sure why, but using a list for
breadcrumbs doesn't quite sit right with me, despite it being a type of
navigation device. I think it is due to list structures replacing the
<dir> and <menu> elements - and the notion that the site hierarchy
represented as links is distinctly different from a navigation menu.
Anyone else have thoughts on this?
I certainly don't claim to be an expert on this, but I think that using an ordered list for breadcrumbs works. You're basically presenting the user with a list of links that have a definied order: this link comes after that link comes after that link.
I suppose that if you wanted to get really semantically precise you could do something like:
<ol id="breadcrumb">
<li>Site root
<ol>
<li>Section
<ol>
<li>Sub-Section</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
This would certainly represent a hierarchical breadcrumb (assuming the type of breadcrumb that shows the site hierarchy, not a history-type one) very accurately, but it seems like an awful lot of code for something relatively simple.
But maybe that's just me...
Cheers,
Seona.
