Patrick H. Lauke wrote:
Gunlaug S�rtun wrote:
It is also much easier to inform our visitors how they can fix
things at their end, if it actually works.
If you forgive the tongue in cheek tone:
Patrick,
no problem. Could have been me if English was my first language.
I might have added something like: "please, use a real browser on this
site, not a garbage-truck." ...or something a bit softer maybe.
But on a more serious note: the main problem at this stage is that of
user education, combined with the users' practical, day to day
knowledge and resultant expectation of the size at which other sites
have set their type.
Forgive me, but I disagree... :-)
First all designers that are somewhat in line here, should pay attention
to user-experiences and wishes, so they at least *prepare* their sites
for user-needs and options, and then we can start discussing how to
educate and inform and whatever our visitors - the users - need.
As long as user-ignorance is used as an excuse for not doing a proper
job at our end, then even this web design community will fail and end up
preserving ignorance among ourself *and* the users. Looks like ignorance
in the web designer camp is more of a problem than lack of knowledge at
the user-end. Too many designers seems surprised, confused, and start
complaining when their pages fail under the lightest stress.
Web designers should educate themselves first. Maybe they should start
by reading their own pages out loud at a proper speed?
In this transitional period, I'd still propose a dual/multiple
approach of alternative stylesheets that would cater for a selection
of different user types, much in the same way that Joe Clark suggests
for users with low vision.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/lowvision/
No problem there. I've used that approach for some time and it is
working for some. Nice option. However, if a user chooses to use his/her
browsers own options instead (an educated user, you know), then the page
must work as well. That's not always so.
I don't see a problem with small fonts. I _do_ see a problem with _any_
font-size when it is combined with unprepared design-methods.
When I, as a user, visit a page with font-size set at around 9px, then I
don't see any problems and probably won't notice, as long as the page
can take my minimum font size of 12px (or whatever). However, if I _have
to switch_ to an alternative stylesheet on that page for it to work,
then I might say a few words that I won't repeat in public -- not even
in Norwegian.
Alternative stylesheets are acceptable (transitional period and all
that) but not quite good enough if a page/site rely on style-switching
for it to work. I'm reorganizing my own, private, site for that very
reason. It simply isn't working well enough at the moment.
So my point is that as long as a page/site is working reasonably well
with available and what should among web designers be well known
browser-options, then anyone may add as many options and stylesheets and
whatever else they like, to solve problems in a (hopefully short)
transitional period.
regards
Georg
--
http://www.gunlaug.no
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