[thelist] "Web 2.0 sites with the big friendly fonts"

Felix Miata mrmazda at ij.net
Wed Feb 21 10:00:38 CST 2007


On 2007/02/21 09:15 (GMT-0600) Steven Streight apparently typed:

> I see a very disturbing trend to microscopic fonts on many Web 2.0 sites. Am
> getting older so my eyes are not what they used to be, but come on. What's
> with the seeming hatred of words displayed by so many designers? CD covers
> is another example of super tiny fonts.

And DVD boxes.

My last two home electronics purchases (hard drive DVD recorders) have the
same problem, displaying text on screen that's too small to read without the
glasses I normally don't need to watch TV.

My LCD watch has a similar problem. In order to read its accompanying
microscopic (4pt?) print instructions to set the time (the button labels
make ambiguous how it's done, and it loses nearly a minute a month) I have
to use a 4X magnifier in addition to my reading glasses.

> So larger fonts is good, but that can be taken to an absurd extreme also.

> Either extreme is not good for usability. Too big a font makes a site look
> clownish, amateur, clunky.

Maybe it's an indirect impetus to get designers to see the folly of not
basing designs on 100% of user defaults. 100% of user defaults leaves it up
to each user to decide what's too big or too small or just right for his
local environment. After all, each is ostensibly using his own PC (or
whatever web access device). http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/auth/bigdefaults.html
-- 
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us."				1 John 1:8 NIV

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata  ***  http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/



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