[WEB4LIB] monitor resolution

[Thomas Dowling]

This question pops up on the HTML authoring newsgroups on a fairly regular
basis.  The consensuses (consensi?) are:

1.  Being a display-independent language, HTML is strangely resistant to
assumptions about the user's screen layout.  A page that is too dependent
on any particular screen layout will eventually screw someone up.

2.  No one has reliable data.  People suspect that a lot of novice users
stick to the out-of-the-box setting of 640x480, but no one knows for sure.
(Is this even the OOB setting any more?)

3.  People using higher resolutions are less likely to run any program
full screen (I'm a case in point: running at 1280x1024 resolution, my
browser windows are seldom even 600 pixels wide).

4.  There is apparently a JavaScript hack for determining screen size.
This is a shortcut to overlooking item 3.

5.  Users who have the choice of horizontal scrolling or not viewing your
page won't view your page.

6.  Absolute page widths are an imposition on the user and seldom
necessary.

7.  Someone will eventually try to view your page with their brand new
Palm Pilot or WinCE handheld.  That person will be your boss.


Probably not the answer you were looking for, but points all web authors
should be aware of.


Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu




> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Kevin Justie
> Sent: Monday, October 12, 1998 5:35 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: [WEB4LIB] monitor resolution
>
>
> In the context of designing web pages (to answer the question
> of how much
> content will be seen on the first screen?), has anyone ever seen any
> studies on what monitor resolutions people use?  Monitor sales figures
> don't answer the question since most (all?) monitors support multiple
> resolutions.  What I'm looking for is number of people using 640x480,
> 800x600, 1024x768, etc.
>
> Thanks!