Keep in mind that many people browsing at "at least 
800x600" do not have their browser running full screen. 
I'm currently using 1280x1024, but my browser window 
is 818x803. It has been less than your 760px width 
many times ... 

David
dvjones(at)ksbe.edu

On 28 Feb 2003, at 11:53, WebMaster wrote:

> We always design at exactly 760 pixels wide. Always. Our
> thinking is based upon a heartfelt loathing for horizontal
> scrollbars appearing in visitors' browsers. Granted, if
> people are using less than 800x600, they'll still get 'em,
> but statistics seemed to indicate that the vast majority
> of people are browsing at 800 px wide or greater.
> 
> And if visitors' resolution is far greater than 800 wide,
> so be it -- we account for that in the design by either
> deliberately centering everything and figuring they'll see
> our pages at 760px wide in the middle of their screens, or
> we set flush left and design accordingly.
> 
> I'm not saying this is right for everyone...but maybe it's
> right for everyone who loathes page content disappearing
> horizontally off-screen on most browsers.... <g>
> 
> John
> 
> P.S. The 760 figure is derived by leaving ample room
> within an 800px width for the display borders of the
> browser itself.
> 
> > I would like to invite comments on the issue of
> > whether/how much to control the width of a web page
> > and/or its content elements.
> > 
> > Politeness and accessibility seem to call for the
> > content to be scalable to fit the user's display without
> > forcing a horizontal scroll. But there is an optimal
> > ratio of font size to column width, and wider columns
> > are difficult to read as well as esthetically
> > unpleasing.
> > 
> > I want those with low vision to be able to enlarge my
> > text as much as they want, in which case maximizing
> > their browser windows makes sense as a way to produce an
> > optimal text-to-column width ratio. But many users seem
> > to maximize their browser windows to full-screen size as
> > a default behavior, without changing text size.
> > 
> > So which is "best" -- leave control in the user's hands
> > and shrug off concerns about their esthetic experience,
> > or try to exert some control and risk impairing
> > usability for users with extreme conditions?
> > 
> > Or is there a middle road somewhere?
 

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