On 2014-04-07 15:51 (GMT-0400) Tom Livingston composed:
Barney Carroll wrote:
Please forgive the impertinent lurker here, but could somebody weigh in with why relative measures are necessary when the desired outcome is pixel-level accuracy?
While feeling a little 'holy war', I'll bite...
It's to honor browser/user-set default font size settings.
Exactly. Respect for optimal as determined by the viewer, represented by the configured default.
If a user has set a larger font size in their browser preferences
She may have set a smaller size. Maybe she wants to fit more open windows with less hidden from view in any or all of them.
due to less than perfect eyesight,
The why is totally irrelevant. Web pages are nearly always viewed on personal computing devices. Personalization is expected, regardless how often it ever goes beyond which wallpaper goes on the desktop to knowing default browser font size can be changed.
for example, setting 100% on the HTML element and then sizing elements with relative units will respect the users need for a larger readable text size and allow the text to scale up.
Not exactly. Zoom will scale it up, or down. The more important issue is the disregard for optimal, which causes the desire or need for a defensive reaction to the disregard in order to achieve legible and/or optimal and/or comfortable state.
Computers have a natural ability to make tasks easier through automation. Disregard for defaults defeats an automation step.
Design off the web generally means total control is given the designer. Elsewhere he has total control of all sizing.
One of the virtues of the web is that designer control over absolute size ranges between difficult and impossible. And it's unnecessary. Even for a non-web design, apparent size varies with viewing distance. So the important part of design is how it all fits together, the perspective among design components.
Those perspectives, no matter how important or trivial, can be reached in web design without attempting to impose any arbitrary absolute size to it or its individual elements. That is done primarily by disposing of use of the arbitrarily sized px, pt, cm, in and related units in favor of units configured by the visitor to suit the visitor, keywords, rem, em & %, which improves automation, and reduces reactive activity required of the visitor.
The friendly treatment that is respect should translate into a happier and less irritated viewer, which in turn should translate into a more receptive frame of mind, one more likely to lead the viewer to purchase whatever the site is trying to sell, or accept as valid the information provided.
Exerting less control is usually easier too. :-) -- "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 [css-d@lists.css-discuss.org] 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/
