Menu (computing)

Some input methods require linear navigation: the user must move a cursor or otherwise pass from one menu item to another until reaching the selection.

A more sophisticated solution offers navigation using the cursor keys or the mouse (even in two dimensions; then the menu items appear or disappear similarly to the menus common in GUIs).

Menus are now also seen in consumer electronics, starting with TV sets and VCRs that gained on-screen displays in the early 1990s, and extending into computer monitors and DVD players.

Menus allow the control of settings like tint, brightness, contrast, bass and treble, and other functions such as channel memory and closed captioning.

Some techniques proposed to alleviate these errors are keeping the submenu open while moving the pointer in diagonal, and using mega menus designed to enhance scannability and categorization of its contents.

[4] In computer menu functions or buttons, an appended ellipsis ("…") means that upon selection, another dialog will follow, where the user can or must make a choice.