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August 04, 2005
The cranky user: Oh, the pixel pickle
I sometimes wonder whether graphics wouldn't be better off if graphics designers and developers had stayed with vector-based graphics. For all that pixels are wonderful (I have nearly two million of them in front of me right now), they sometimes make Web designers do really stupid things.
Let's be honest. For all that everyone likes to remind you that HTML is not a layout language, it has acquired enough layout hints that, in practice, it really is a layout language. That doesn't mean HTML is a good layout language, though. In fact, doing layout in HTML is pretty close to crazy.
If you do your layout in HTML, the user can -- and often should -- override your layout suggestions. You have no way to know the capabilities of the target display. You won't know how large it is, either in pixels or in inches. You won't know how well the user can see it.
The key to successful HTML layout is to acknowledge these limitations and work with them. Go ahead and specify that a given is intended to render on the left side of the display beside your body text; just don't try to force it. Don't build a page that will be completely unusable if you don't get what you asked for.
And seriously, don't specify widths in pixels. If you must specify a width, specify it in points or ems.
Continue Reading "Oh, The Pixel Pickle" at IBM developerWorks.
Posted by Don at August 4, 2005 10:51 PM
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