> -----Original Message----- > From: Rimantas Liubertas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, 8 January 2005 6:49 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [WSG] G* addressing standards > > To be more precise: what percentage of unfortunate web surfers knows > that it is possible to change font size. > And then what percentage of those uses font-changing tools instead of > using glasses. >
Most users with serious visual disabilities that cannot be rectified by simply wearing a pair of glasses know how to change the font-size in their browser (or they use screen magnifiers or similar software). This is a technical knowledge they have to gain if they wish to use the Internet at all. > Why not? I can change it (except for graphical menu and absolutely > illegible trademark notice). > The only browser which does not allow it is IE for Windows That's it. > (yes, I can hear your "it is the most popular and user by 7/8/9-ty > percents of the web surfers. Anyway, 1/2/3-ty percent of users CAN > change font size in browser. Maybe 0.1% wants to... maybe 0.01% knows > how). There is a good reason why people would come back to you and tell you that 90% of users have IE installed: it's because our websites should be working for the majority of people that use it, not the minority. Although there is lots of "research" that shows that Firefox is being installed on so-and-so many machines, our statistics in ALL our websites show that IE has still got a leading position of 90% amongst our users. There are a couple of reasons why this is not going to change in the next years majorly: - Companies will not be willing to change their default browser just because there is a trend amongst Web Developers or Computer Nerds (not excluding myself here) to move to a standards based browser. Give them a good reason to change. The only good reason would be if websites did not work in IE. The way it looks at the moment: there are many more websites that don't work in Firefox than in IE. - IE is the browser that supports assistive technology best. Most assistive software only works in IE. Those groups of users will not change in the near future. - It may be hard to believe for some, but many computer users do not know how to install a different browser. In fact, many of them don't even know that there is anything else but IE. Who, except for us guys here, cares about reading IT articles about the new kick-ass browser that is going to take over the world? Nobody. There are 10 million people that downloaded Firefox? Well, there are 600 million people online world wide (http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/). Which makes the 10 million a mere 1.66%. Is the trend of downloading Firefox going to continue as it has so far? Doubtful. Us computer nerds have downloaded it eagerly, but persuading the general public will take more than just a few years. So, until further notice: we better continue working for our dear friend IE, which, unfortunately, cannot resize absolute fonts. Make it accessible, make it usable. My two cents. :) ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
