[Web4lib] Library Web site redesign

[Binkley, Peter]

Re the IE5 problem: it's also possible to embed css instructions for IE in a comment, so that they are ignored by other browsers - see http://www.quirksmode.org/css/condcom.html. This approach would solve the font-size problem like this:

<style type="text/css">
body {
	font-size: medium; /* for other browsers */
	...
	}
</style>

<!--[if IE 5]>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ie5.css" />
<![endif]-->

And the stylesheet "ie5.css" would contain:

body {
	font-size: small;
	}

Only IE5 will download the extra stylesheet and override the default value for font-size.

Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Tom Keays
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 2:59 PM
To: Roger Fenton
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Library Web site redesign

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
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