Re: Surfing with preferences locked (default) or modified?

Hi cmj,

>If I run into a site that is just too difficult
>to read ... be it too small or too large, the font chosen is what I do not
>have and defaulting or worse yet, the designer failed to blend colors
>effectively, I change the settings accordingly so that I may at least
>absorb the content.

Wow, you go to that extent? Hmm. I have never changed my font & color
settings. Never.

>Is it the opinion of this group that their are more people out there
>inclined to doing this, and thus diminishing the efforts of the designers
>to use a preferred choice?  Or is it on a case by case basis?

Before I answer that, allow me to state where I'm coming from. As a website
developer who pitches his own services, I'm out in the field 2 to 3 times
per week talking with regular folks - NOT people in this business, just your
average web surfer.

The average web surfer does not change *anything*.  And I mean, *anything*.
Not font, color, screen res, color depth - N O T H I N G.  To wit: The
Netscape website has the most visitors because it's the default opening page
for the browser. People don't even bother to change that - or even know that
they can.

That's hard to believe for us that know how to tweak our 'puters. But the
average computer user is scared to death of their machines. I'm not
exagerating here. I'm dead serious.

This is a very important issue for us to keep in mind: our audience. We must
look at websites the way our audience looks at them, and not by how our
contemporaries do. This is *critical*!!

I was at the LA Internet show yesterday, and I was speaking to a webmaster
for a major department store (who shall be nameless here). He was telling me
that when he was in design school, he would describe to his wife a creation
of his and how it was correct in every form; color, contrast, texture,
scope, balance. His wife simply said, "It looks like c**p." Very poignant.
And very revealing.

The public does *not* change their fonts because "the designer failed to
blend colors
effectively" or "so that I may at least absorb the content". To wit: look at
most personal homepages. They are created by the general public, that is,
those not schooled in design. Like *them* color combinations?!!  =)

I follow the lead of the big boys when it comes to fonts; Arial, Times,
Verdana, Helvetica, Geneva. I almost never use the default font.

Regards,
Demitrius >I<
------------------------------------------------A. Demitrius Lopez
       W  E  B  S  I  T  E     D  E  V  E  L  O  P  E  R
             http://members.aol.com/mrdemitri/
------------------------------------>I<------------------------------------

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