Re: web safe colors

From: Tammy S. Weibel <tammy(at)tammyweb.com>
>I was wondering what everyone else does about dealing with the issue of
>surfers who are only using 16 colors. Obviously I never even thought it
was
>an issue.  I have changed my entire site to a white background because
now I
>am nervous about using anything else. I do not like the way it looks at
all.

If it were me, NO WAY would I redesign my entire site due to surfers
that might be viewing in 16 colors. This is the time to educate those
that are less fortunate to know how to get the best out of their viewing
capabilities. And I thought I had to worry about those that might be
surfing w/ colors set at 256 ... hee hee!

One thing that I have found to be effective is, put a small text link at
the top of your pages ... something like "Having trouble viewing
graphics ... things look blurry or distorted? Get the fix here!" (this
always works, for I have had numerous email responses thanking me for
informing them of this) ... and then put up a page informing how to view
better graphics and changing the color settings.

Things to mention in this "view better graphics" page could consist of
the following:

1. AOL users - let them know how to specify to view uncompressed
graphics.

2. IE users (and probably will work for NN) - let them know that having
"Smart image dithering", checked under "Multimedia Options" in their
browser preferences, isn't actually all that smart while viewing jpegs.

3. Last but not least - inform the user how to adjust their screen
colors by right clicking on the desktop (win9x).

In all honesty, I have never had a bad reply to this. Now, as far as how
many actually take the time to educate themselves, I would say it has
everything to do with the way you approach it to your viewers. Most
surfers, that I have encountered experiencing distorted graphics, are
soooo happy that they have been informed on how to correct this. Believe
me, if one is viewing in 16 colors, your site is not the only one that
looks horrid to them. They will thank you in the long run!

--
Cindy K. Stanley

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