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I have used CSS menus and absolute positioning which looks great and standard size but goes haywire when the text size is changed in the browser. Is there a way to lock the layout in position or prevent people changing text size all together?
Then I might use that kit whenever I desparately need to look at your site.
Or you could reflect that your content is probably not the most important thing I am going to look at today. So to get me to look at it at all, you've got to remove as many barriers as possible.
I guarantee that I don't have the same same monitor, operating system, and browser as you. Nor are my window sizes, installed fonts, preferred font sizes, color depth, and other factors, likely to be the same as yours.
Your challenge as a webdesigner is to launch content that can handle such variance. Otherwise, you might as well go back to designing for print.
Google for "fluid layout" and "liquid layout" -- or search this site for such terms. What's needed isn't hard to accomplish. And it doesn't require any of your potemtial audience to adjust their set ups just for you.
if there is a way around please let us know
What's needed isn't hard to accomplish.
Right now I'm creating an order site that contains an order button with item information and pricing. If you resize the text, all this has to slide around but still allow the user to connect the button with the description and the pricing for multiple items without getting confused.
I got it to work, sort of, if you don't increase text size more than twice. Even Amazon's site will break up if you expand it enough. For me, it has increased my workload three times or more, although I know it wouldn't have taken that long if it weren't my first attempt. For now, it'll be fixed positioning.
1) Put the time in to make a fully liquid layout
2) Don't
There's no way you can disable text resizing (without making each page an image) and you shouldn't be doing so. Compared to not being able to read your site at all, users aren' going to complain about it breaking a little. Of course ideally you'd accomodate them by making a flexible layout but that's your perogative.
Unless the user is visually impaired or uses a higher size text browser your site text will more aless be consistant throughout.
be honest how many times have you changed the text-size in your browser?
Just once -- the day I installed it. I set my defaults the way I want them. The same as I would with any other piece of software.
Websites that work with my defaults, I may use. Websites that don't, I never will.
Building flexibility and fluidity in from day one of a design is easy. Retro-fitting is much harder. That can be the price of builidng a site without first establishing its business priorities.
be honest how many times have you changed the text-size in your browser?
I do it every now and then depending on the information I am looking for, the kind of text, etc...
My finger is always in the Ctrl key and the mouse upper wheel to zoom in and zoom out. And I do use it continously.
I may be unusual. But if there's somebody like me out there I'd bet 'we' are no less than 10% of your potential users.
Would you like to alienate me? My wallet might be full of money for you <LOL!>
I have tested on three different sized monitors at varying resolutions and on five different browsers, all working fine so I guess the minority of people that will change the text size shouldnt really matter.
I was just wondering if there was any way to prevent it by coding into the pages.
This would cause problems with the SEO/spiders but would get round this quick
I have a absolutley positioned menu - yes when the user resizes the text the menu text looks untidy but the actual menu stays in the same place
