Comments on: If at first you don’t succeed http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/09/21/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed/ Resources for librarians who are interested in the application of web design and technologies in libraries Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:58:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Jonathan Blackburn http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/09/21/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed/#comment-29903 Jonathan Blackburn Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:35:56 +0000 http://www.librarywebchic.net/wordpress/2007/09/21/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed/#comment-29903 Glad you found an acceptable solution. You got me thinking about this whole issue again for our website, and I might try Yahoo's (http://www.yahoo.com/) approach next time around. They use a fixed width design made for 1024x768 monitors (our most common by far) and provide a "switch to narrower layout" for people still using 800x600. Though I think your solution is probably more flexible - and provides a better experience for users with disabilities - I do like the convenience of designing for a fixed width. (Fluid really does require a paradigm shift of sorts that not everyone is ready for . . .) Of course, do not tell this to our librarian in charge of accessibility, as she routinely sees users with 23" widescreen monitors with the browser text-size up all the way. Try that on a fixed width design and see what happens! Glad you found an acceptable solution.

You got me thinking about this whole issue again for our website, and I might try Yahoo’s (http://www.yahoo.com/) approach next time around. They use a fixed width design made for 1024×768 monitors (our most common by far) and provide a “switch to narrower layout” for people still using 800×600.

Though I think your solution is probably more flexible - and provides a better experience for users with disabilities - I do like the convenience of designing for a fixed width. (Fluid really does require a paradigm shift of sorts that not everyone is ready for . . .)

Of course, do not tell this to our librarian in charge of accessibility, as she routinely sees users with 23″ widescreen monitors with the browser text-size up all the way. Try that on a fixed width design and see what happens!

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