@lalitk thanks for the cable recommendation!
For future readers: today I discovered that my confusion regarding the Conductor app menu headings was likely influenced adversely by the combination of my iPad display settings, the Conductor app display setting I chose, and room lighting conditions. I opened the Conductor app from a bright sunlit room and had zero difficulty seeing which top menu and sub-menu I was in.
The menu arrangement is still somewhat context-sensitive but now I clearly can see exactly where I am in it.