> However, a well-working "catch all" solution should also be presented, > since there is one. I don't think that has gotten through yet. > > Maybe better read up on how ems can be used, while avoiding horizontal > scroll-bars and off-screen content... > <http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200504/fixed_or_fluid_width_elastic/> > ...and you can even test its proportional qualities if you have wide > enough screens. >
Much as I admire Roger's work, I don't think constraining the page to the width of the window is an ideal solution in all cases. I have a friend with severe visual impairment, who will attempt to view a page using his magnifier tool, only resorting to his screen reader if that breaks the design. Like many people in his situation, he can't afford to upgrade to newer, possibly better versions of his assistive software, which only works with IE. Nor can he afford a great big monitor. He couldn't care less about having to scroll sideways to view a page magnified to 800% of its normal size; what he doesn't want is for the design to break into single-word-wide columns, as Roger's site does because of the constraint to window width. If he went there, he'd have to use his screen reader, which depending on how bad his mood was that day would very probably result in him giving up on the site in minutes. Try looking at Roger's design zoomed to 800% in a 1024px wide window and you'll see what I mean. (The Firefox DOM Inspector is useful for checking out things like this; in Roger's styles, select the <body> element, view the CSS style rules in the rightmost pane, select the last entry in the top of the rightmost pane, double-click the "font-size: 76%" setting, and enter 800%. You probably knew this, but not everybody reading might, so I'll throw it in here :-) On the other hand, when he finds a site with an em-based layout - in the sense of Zoe's point #3, where the site remains in the same relative proportions across its layout - he's perfectly happy to scroll sideways; he just appreciates being able to see and read the site as nature (and the deisgner) intended. He sees the entire world through a very narrow viewport anyway, so why should he be bothered by a scrollbar? Just my 0.02GBP... Regards, Nick. -- Nick Fitzsimons http://www.nickfitz.co.uk/ ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
