[Web4lib] Nielsen's Top 10 - 2005 version

[Norma Hewlett]

I totally agree with Lynne. My vision is 20/30 with glasses, good 
enough so I can drive a car, and very far from being legally blind. I 
keep my monitor set to 800x600 and my browser text size set to largest 
font. (See, I know how to adjust the settings.) 

I hate web pages with fixed fonts, especially those with less than 12 
point type. Most of the time I just skip those pages. (Did you put all 
that effort into designing your page so people will skip it without 
reading it?) I don't care how nice the page layout looks if I can't 
read the text. If I really need to read the content, I copy it, paste 
it into Word, and enlarge the font there. (So much for the page layout!)

The Windows magnifying glass may be a good tool for enlarging pixils 
but it's a terrible way to read a page. I defy anybody to use it on a 
regular basis. Anyway, why should I need a magnifying glass to read 
your web site? I thought the idea was to put out the information in a 
form that will attract readers, not make things difficult for them.

Jean Hewlett

All opinions are my own, and do not represent my employers.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Rasmussen <ras at anzio.com>
Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 1:17 pm
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Nielsen's Top 10 - 2005 version
> On Wed, 19 Oct 2005, Lynne Puckett wrote:
> 
> > Erik,
> > The biggest problem with fixed fonts, as far as my aging eyes 
> are concerned,
> > are the ones with tiny type that will NOT enlarge in the browser 
> (especially> if it's IE)...
> 
> First, I want to say that philosphically I support putting as much 
> controlas possible in the hands of the user. If they don't know 
> how to size their
> window, or set their preferred font size, then that's an 
> opportunity to
> help them take control of their computer system for other sites as 
> well.
> Now, from the user's perspective. There are a couple of things 
> users can
> do to their Windows systems in general to increase visibility:
> 
> 1. Change the "DPI" of the monitor. If you go to Display 
> Properties, then
> Settings, then General (at least on XP), you'll find the DPI setting.
> Increasing the DPI setting yields larger text for most Windows display
> operations.
> 
> 2. There is a handy magnifier in Start Menu:All
> Programs:Accessories:Accessibility:Magnifier. This opens a 
> magnifier at
> the top of the screen, that shows a blowup of the screen area 
> surroundingyour mouse pointer. Besides reading small text, it is 
> useful for seeing
> exact pixel content when you're doing various design tasks.
> 
> Note that these things are issues for reasons other than aging 
> eyes. Some
> display devices are coming out with higher dot density for various
> reasons.
> 
> Regards,
> ....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.
> 
> personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
> company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com
>          voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
>            fax: (US) 503-624-0760
>            web: http://www.anzio.com
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