This is a recurring topic that often gets some people "going" in many ways.
Testing and research always presents biased results (when it comes to
web data) and will continue to unless the first page people reach when
they visit the web is a eyesight and usage survey. That'll never happen
anytime soon.
Example: a browser usage survey on a web development blog - offers no
real data about the housewife on her new Dell searching homes to rent at
the beach. In that instance it a situation like, "Firefox? whats that?
I click the little blue "e" to go online..."
That brings us back to the real reality we work and create in and the
prospective audience were aiming for. Its chaotic, and while not nearly
as chaotic as 10 years ago, its still the wild west out there.
There is no question in my mind that setting font-size to 100% is a
conscientious decision aimed at pleasing the largest number of people
possible.
A few years ago all my sites were fixed width at 750px. It can
certainly be argued that people using 640x480 get a lessened experience,
and this is true.
Most sites I make now are fixed width at 960px. Yes, some people cannot
see the full screen and I should be hung for such a travesty, but again,
the real reality is that over 90% of the visitors to these sites use a
resolution of at least 1024 x 768. Of course, steps are taken to make
the lowest possible experience (plain text, one column) as complete and
rewarding as possible.
Can you make the text smaller? Yes, sure, why not (don't answer that).
If you do, at least use flexible sizes, if someone does in fact resize
the text, however infrequent.
In MY real working world, 90% of my visitors still use IE6 at 1024 x 768
and use the browser full screen, and have the text-size set to
"Medium". This reality may not apply to other sites, but for MY site
owners, it represents THEIR audience, and to me, that is the number 1
concern.
Theres always the "greater good" to be considered...and hoped for, but
the real reality offers no such ineffable standard.
Joseph R. B. Taylor
---------------------------------
Sites by Joe, LLC
"Keep it Clean, Simple & Elegant"
(609) 335-3076
http://sitesbyjoe.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hassan Schroeder wrote:
Gunlaug Sørtun wrote:
We do however know that the number of users who need to know and
actively use such browser options, is growing with the number of elderly
people on the web.
Uh, "we" do? :-)
I found this article
<http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/custom/modernlife/bal-ml.boomer17jun17,0,5613476.story>
regarding the increasing availability of large-print books, which
says in part:
According to Lighthouse International (a group that helps
people deal with loss of vision), 17 percent of Americans
45 and older have some form of visual impairment.
In 2010, all boomers will have reached that milestone birthday
-- a group of about 20 million -- and most will be feeling the
effects of presbyopia, the inability to focus on objects close
up. (By the time we hit our 40s or 50s, the elasticity of the
eye naturally decreases with age, and our close-up sight is
affected.)
OK, fine -- but reading a hand-held paperback book and reading a
screen a couple of feet away seem very different to me, for lots
of reasons.
So my question is: do we *know* that this applies to reading text
/on a computer screen/? Not "guess", not "believe", *know*.
Personally, I find 16px text far too large for comfortable reading.
And before anyone pulls out the "dang whippersnappers" card, I'm 60
years old and I've worn eyeglasses for most of 'em. :-)
Citations of actual research would contribute more to the discussion
than unsubstantiated opinion -- IMHO!
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