Tony - WebSiteGarage Australian Edition wrote:
>
> As you can see from the stats, the 640x480 (18%) screen size usage has
> declined by 7% in the past year, ( I hope this trend continues.) and
> 800x600 (54%) has increased by 4% in the past year.
>
> Some stats on colour depth, 256 colour (13%) dropped off very quickly , (
> thank god! ).. dropped 7% this year.
> ( scroll down a bit )
>
> Netscape ( browsers at the end ) is basically stalled. Let's hope v5 and
> pull it back from hell gates.
>
> 1. Internet Explorer 4.x 106288971 (58%)
> 2. Netscape 4.x 45453704 (24%)
Sorry, but I really don't buy into this generic stats stuff. :P No
offense to Tony. Certainly woulndn't call anything like this hard
proof :P
You can only make specialized judgments like this by looking at YOUR OWN
VISITORS.
Of the dozen or so sites I maintain on the side (outside the main
contract), the vast majority of people (65% of those in US) are still
using 640x480, and NS is running 70% and higher as the preferred
browser. For the big site on the current contract, preliminary
estimates show that the screen size is about 45-45 for 640 vs 800, and
NS in various versions is still at 68% (at 300K hits a week, 72% US).
These are all designed to work for everyone, so the design isn't driving
away one group or another.
The point is, look at the current stats for the client, or slap in a
script to monitor them on a current presence while you're doing the
design work.
In the end, a good design shouldn't be affected by screen size or
browser type . . . but if you do have to make some choices along the way
to please the client, this should first be done using the client's
stats, and only as an absolute last resort turning to generic stats, or
worse yet, stats from really large sites that can be affected by MS
advertising hits or have underlying paid advertising or sponsorhisp
interests that throw the stats off (since they drive specific visitors
from other sites, who most often are using a specific browser or are
likely to have specific computer settings (i.e., AOL)).
Brett
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