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SIZES ARTICLE, PAGE 3
The truth is out there
The next step is to get a general sense of what these widths are;
and then we can think about how to build sites that look great
for the majority of site visitors.
My site statistics for this web site during the month of November
2007 gave me the figures below. This gives us a general starting
point, but it's a good idea to check your own site statistics to
see what your site's visitors are using.
| 1024 x 768 px |
30% |
| 1280 x 1024 px |
23% |
| 1280 x 800 px |
10% |
| 1680 x 1050 px |
10% |
| 1440 x 900 px |
8% |
| 1920 x 1200 px |
4% |
Various sizes, all larger than
800 x 600 px |
12% |
| 800 x 600 px |
3% |
| Under 800 x 600 px |
None |
Statistics like these have helped to formulate my own working
philosophy in this area. I don't claim that the conclusions I have
come to are the only ones which can be drawn, but simply offer
them as a common sense response.
A suggested philosophy
Basically, whether the page I'm designing is fixed-width or flexible-width,
I aim my efforts at the largest sectors of the demographic continuum.
As you'll see below, there are a couple of suggested ways to deal
with this browser window width issue. But regardless of which method
you choose, you'll need to focus your energy on optimizing your
pages for one section of the statistical spectrum.
A note on those quaint, charming, 800 x 600 pixel people
The 800 x 600 pixel group is not negligible at 3%, but things
have changed a lot in the past few years since the time when we
web developers made certain that not a single person with a browser
maximized at 800 x 600 pixels ever had to scroll horizontally.
In my estimation, it would be foolish and counterproductive to
aim my design efforts at making my pages look perfect for 3% of
my visitors, while make the other 97% will be seeing a narrow,
cramped-looking design which doesn't make use of much of the space
they have.
My pages need to be completely usable by the 800 x 600 pixel people,
and of course they are. These folks may need to do a little horizontal
scrolling to see all of the content, but I submit for your consideration
the proposition that these folks don't mind scrolling horizontally
all that much - they have to do it on almost every web site they
visit.
Even if my page is at a fixed width of about 970 pixels, I'll
put my money on the fact that these small-window users will be
fine with it. They're only 3% - and they're shrinking. Every new
Dell or Gateway that gets carried in the front door means another
old, outdated computer nudged out of use, and this process is occurring
on a huge scale every day.
Continued: Some
non-solutions... --> |
