[thelist] Line lengths + screen sizes (was RE: Site Critique)
Paul Cowan
paul at wishlist.com.au
Tue Aug 28 19:45:40 CDT 2001
Wade Armstrong [mailto:wade at runstrong.com] wrote:
> I think the fixed design works a little better... line
> lengths get a bit
> long past 1024x768 on the liquid design.
Really? I've never understood this argument. People here use it all the
time: "readability studies show that line lengths over [x] words are
hard to read, we should shrink everything to a fixed pixel width."
No, you shouldn't. I run my screen at 1280x1024; I have my browser window
maxxed. If I found it hard to read, I would change my resolution or
resize my window. My having a maxxed browser window at that res, perhaps
indicates I PREFER that line length?
I am strongly in favour of letting the user have the choice. The user
will consider the readability vs. visible information tradeoff, and
form their own opinions. I hate it when sites take up 600 pixels in the
middle of my screen, leaving an acre of white space. If I wanted that,
I would shrink my window and set a white desktop background.
Liquid designs are far superior for usability, in my opinion.
Here endeth the rant.
Cheers,
Paul.
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