[WEB4LIB] 800x600 and fluid elements

[Thomas Dowling]

At 09:04 AM 11/18/2002, Smith, Barbara wrote:
>We're working with a designer who is creating a series of designs for some
>new e-products, including two that involve filling in a lot of forms.  (One
>is an online reporting form, the other is an online application.)
>
>The designer...

More accurately, "D3z1ner", I would guess.  Kewl.


>...recommends 800x600 resolution, with static logo header and bars
>to separate different sections.  Nothing would be fluid.  The contractor for
>one of the projects thinks that fluid bars and forms make more sense,
>because they expand with the change in resolution.

A couple of randomish notes.  Prices on LCD monitors seem to be dropping, 
and the standard new PC in 2003 could very well have a 17" LCD that only 
runs at 1280x1024.  It's one thing for you page to look "right" on about 
have your users' screens (8000x600), "almost right" on most of the other 
half (1024x768), and "just plain wrong" on the small remaining group.  It's 
another thing when the "just plain wrong" group grows beyond a few percent.

My main monitor runs at 1600x1200, and that's no longer even the highest 
resolution in our office, but my *window* width (which is actually the 
important aspect of my display environment) is usually either around 700px 
or 1150px.  Either way, a page hardwired to 800px looks stupid at best.

If your designer hopes to enforce a screen width through table-based 
layout, that has important accessibility consequences.  You must ensure 
that all tables linearize sensibly (and if your designer doesn't know what 
that means, boot him).  It also has performance consequences, since a 
browser will not start laying out a page until the entire content has been 
downloaded.

IMO, the best argument against fixed-width designs is to show them to 
someone--especially your boss--in a window whose dimensions are 
significantly different from the designer's target.  I've taken the liberty 
of sticking an example of this approach at 
<http://sienna.ohiolink.edu/tpd/resolution-dependence.html>.


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