[thelist] CSS-P degradation help needed

rudy r937 at interlog.com
Tue Jan 14 18:42:01 CST 2003


> I'm in the process of re-working our web site (http://www.eff.org/).
> ... I'm using a 3-column CSS based layout.  The main problem is
> that on narrow screens (such as a Zarus running Opera) the flanking
> columns run over the middle column.

this begins to happen if the browser is even a few pixels less than totally
maximized at 800x600, resulting in a horizontal scrollbar, except there's
nothing to the right when you scroll over there

>.. I'm hoping that I've once again guessed wrong
> and that there is a nice solution to this problem.  Is there?

i am sorry, i do not have an answer for your overrun

you may not want to hear this, but the problem lies in your choice of a
3-column layout

alas, i feel i am whistling into the wind (as it were)

why do so many sites feel the need to cram so much into the page?  are y'all
so paranoid that if there isn't an overwhelming glut of stuff to choose
from, the user will get bored?  why the intentional information overload?
are you afraid that the user won't "get" what the site is about if you don't
put everything and the kitchen sink onto the home page? is this design style
the result of the instant gratification so typical of this age? do you
realize how many users you drive away with this "busy" design?  why is the
nav bar so insignificant?  the nav bar should be the primary visual focus
for the user, to draw attention to the content choices available on the
site, not some oh-yeah-i-guess-we-need-a-nav-bar afterthought

i am sorry for the rant, the EFF is certainly not the worst offender in this
regard, and i know you didn't want this type of feedback

but ya know what?  the overlap problems don't happen with a one-column
layout


rudy




More information about the thelist mailing list