On 2012/01/25 10:22 (GMT+0100) Markus Ernst composed:
Felix Miata composed:
On 2012/01/23 10:35 (GMT+0800) Ghodmode composed:
960px is a good max width... for most site visitors.
...where "most" is as little as 50% + 1 of today's visitors.
Is there statistical evidence for any of these two statements?
I wouldn't know. My statement was mostly a reminder of the definition of "most".
OTOH, the em unit bears a predictable relationship to both legibility and usability, and thus is the better way to determine how wide is wide enough.
This is an old discussion. In a perfect world, the em unit would undoubtedly be the only reasonable choice. But in today's reality, some crucial parts of designs, such as image and border dimensions, do only work well if defined in pixels. (Look at a GIF logo scaled to an em size.) To have some kind of reliable relationship between the dimensions of a web page and its elements is a very common wish of website designers and their clients.
"do only work well" is arguably true as to pages designed for print but hosted on the web, as most pages are today. In pages actually designed for the strengths of the web, pixel perfection cannot be a primary goal. Using px to size small objects like borders isn't so bad, but contrary to and stifling of inherent web adaptability when used for larger objects like text and paragraphs.
Another downside of em is the fact that it is relative to the font size of the current element, and thus not reliably constant throughout a page. Once rem will be broadly implemented, it will be the unit of choice.
The most competent designers don't find that to be an insurmountable obstacle, though using rem is indeed easier where support for antique and laggard browsers is not a requirement.
-- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [[email protected]] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
