[Pro] Using CSS layout

I have what may seem like a stupid question here. Like a lot of others, I come from a print background and struggle with this new web design venture and wanting to relate how my old skills will help with the transition. So my question…it seems that working in CSS layout & using layers seems to be more like using PS and other page layout programs. It also seems to eliminate a lot of headaches when items overlap and how they will view. Are there any drawbacks in always using the CSS layout. I’m sure there are but it just seems like that is the way to go until I get more adjusted. Thanks!


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Hi John,
One thing I still struggle with while using CSS layout (and I may mess up the terminology here)…is creating designs that do not hold up when someone increases text size in a browser. In other words, you might create a nice looking page using CSS layered items. Say some html text above or next to a graphic item, but when someone views the page in a browser and starts fiddling with the text size, the text may run behind or in front of images as the page size grows or shrinks. There are ways to make sure this doesn’t happen (Box Model).

But it brings up a question I’ve had for sometime, and maybe one of the pros out there can address it…, is it ever ok to have designs that breaks down as text size changes? Say for example, a design looks fine for the first 3 times a user increases text size, but then after text gets really large the page breaks apart…or should one ALWAYS make pages in a way that they will never look bad as text increases to ANY size?


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Sometime around 16/9/09 (at 10:18 -0400) Rich Gannon said:

is it ever ok to have designs that breaks down as text size
changes? Say for example, a design looks fine for the first 3 times
a user increases text size, but then after text gets really large
the page breaks apart…or should one ALWAYS make pages in a way
that they will never look bad as text increases to ANY size?

It depends to an extent on your audience and your intentions. My
Panorama Comparisons site remains functional with one font size
increase, but hit it again and the CSS menus begin to slip underneath
the Small/Medium/Large buttons and the text in some of the non-pano
pages suffers a similar fate. The Adobe.com site suffers similar
issues. (But of course if you use a browser that can do full page
zooming rather than just text enlargement this is a non-issue for
normal zoom requirements.)

It is good manners as well as important for accessibility to make
sure your designs aren’t too fragile, but there is a point at which
it is generally fair to say “that’s further than I’m prepared to
worry about”. Or you rethink your designs.

k


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