rogerd - 1:45 pm on Jul 21, 2003 (gmt 0)

I hope this is an hourly deal and not a fixed-price effort, markd! At least then you can carry out any ridiculous request and get paid for it.

I think when you have a client with limited understanding, you should do your best to educate him. Ultimately, I think, you either have to follow the client's direction (if it doesn't involve something unethical or illegal) or walk away from the job if you know it is doomed to failure or if it will reflect poorly on your ability.

One thing I have done in "client education" situations like this is bolster my credibility with articles, white papers, etc. If I say "designing a 1024 pixel fixed-width screen will be bad for usability," they may think I'm trying to cut corners by giving them fewer pixels. If I provide screen width statistics from a major publication, an article by <shudder> Jakob N, and other third party resources, even the densest client usually gets the picture.

(As an aside, having a well-formatted "print" page isn't all bad. Many less experienced web users print pages rather than reading them online. And business people often print pages for later viewing (e.g., while on the subway or flying). It's a good idea to include a logo and company contact info on them in most cases.)

<Added>One other thought - if this company is so strong technically, is there any internal resource that could help educate the person you are working with? Of course, sometimes internal people have the least credibility of all. ;)</Added>