[Web4lib] Library Web site redesign

[Tom Keays]

If font sizes are set in pixels, rather than in relative sizes, then
some browsers -- including IE 6/Win -- are unable to resize them. A
recommendation that I heard recently, that seems very sensible, was to
size the body of the page using the keyword approach and then specific
block elements as percentages.

body { font-size: medium; }
h1 { font-size: 150%; }
h2 { font-size: 130%; }
h3 { font-size: 120%; }
ul li {font-size: 95%;}

There is a modification that could be made to this -- the ugly-looking
"box model hack" for IE5/Win's problem with sizing keywords one size
too large. E.G.

body {
  font-size: small;  /* for IE5/Win  */
  voice-family: "\"}"";
  voice-family: inherit;
  font-size: medium;  /*  for compliant browsers  */
}

See: http://tantek.com/CSS/Examples/boxmodelhack.html

On 9/12/06, Roger Fenton <roger.fenton at llgc.org.uk> wrote:
> I've just finished a usability test which included just this aspect of
> our current Geac OPAC (which is being replaced soon by a VTLS OPAC).
> http://geacweb.llgc.org.uk:8000/
> It was the 2nd item in an 11-task test, following on item 1, which asked
> users to find a Spanish translation of Dylan Thomas' book *Portrait of
> the Artist as a Young Dog* and order it from the stacks. Task 2 stated:
> "During the previous search, you decided that the print on the screen is
> too small for you to read easily. Enlarge the print."
> There is no way to achieve this that I know of within Geac; nor are
> there any on-screen icons for accessibility help. The only ways I know
> of to do it for our OPAC are to use the browser's View > Text Zoom,
> CTRL++ or CTRL+mouse wheel. Not all of these methods work in all
> browsers. There may be more, but the point is that most users had
> trouble finding them.
> There were 21 subjects: 12 library school students and 9 members of the
> general public (from college students to retired people).
> 5 subjects completely failed to discover a way of doing this (in one
> case after spending over 6 minutes in fruitless searching). Here are the
> times (in seconds) taken by the successful 16 successful subjects:
> 10; 11; 11; 12; 20; 22; 22; 26; 41; 44; 59; 70; 103; 120; 301; 428.
> Subjects continually looked on-screen to find a set of graduated
> A-letters or some other accessibility link, and many looked in vain
> through the Geac Help pages or the rest of the Library's Website for a
> method.
> Roger Fenton
>
> Tyson Tate wrote:
>
> > Just because it *can* be resized doesn't mean that the users know how,
> > unfortunately.
> >
> > I'm amazed at how many people with poor eyesight still don't know how
> > to resize text in their browser. You should either include a few icons
> > (many magazine and newspaper sites do this) that change the base font
> > size percentage or make your text larger by default.
> >
> > -Tyson
> >
> > On 9/11/06, Diana Myers Hyatt <dmyershyatt at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Thank you Araby,
> >> You have some great comments on how the information is
> >> organized on the page. The IT's design, I found, tries
> >> to offer too much information without organizing it in
> >> anyway. As you mention, everything is given the same
> >> weight.
> >>
> >> I have made the type rather small, but unlike the IT
> >> design, it can be resized in IE. I'm going to test and
> >> tweak this site this week, so I'll be sure to get
> >> users comments on the type size. I like the idea of
> >> moving up the AskNow section, and plan to promote it
> >> on other pages as well.
> >>
> >> --- Araby Y Greene <araby at unr.edu> wrote:
> >>
> Roger Fenton
>
> Swyddog Prosiect
> Adran Gwasanaethau Casgliadau
> Is-adran Systemau
> Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru
> Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3BU
> Cymru
>
> http://www.llgc.org.uk/
> Ffôn: +44 (0) 1970 632800 est. 368
> e-bost: roger.fenton at llgc.org.uk
>
> Dydy'r uchod ddim o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli polisi'r LlGC
>
> Project Officer
> Department of Collection Services
> Systems Section
> National Library of Wales
> Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3BU
> Wales
>
> http://www.llgc.org.uk/
> Tel.: +44 (0) 1970 632800 ext. 368
> Fax: +44 (0) 1970 632882
> e-mail: roger.fenton at llgc.org.uk
>
> The above does not necessarily represent NLW policy
>
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-- 
Tom