[Pydotorg-redesign] Draft HTML for redesign proposal

[Tim Parkin]

Michael Greary:
>* Not black. I know that you consider less contrast to be easier on the
>eyes, but I have to tell you that with my eyes, on my computer, it just
>ain't so. I spend all day, every day, looking at text, and I've tried
lots
>of variations of font and color. Black on white is by far the best for
me.
>This is especially true now that I use ClearType--black on white gives
>ClearType the most room to work with, and colored text suffers
especially
>because it severely limits how much subpixel antialiasing can be done.
But
>even before I used ClearType, black on white was the best on my LCD
>displays.
I think perhaps you're right when you're using clear type on an LCD
display 15" monitor at 1600x1200. What I propose doing is adding an
alternate sytlesheet which removes all styling from the body content.
This means that for 99% of people who don't set their default fonts (and
probably don't know how to) and who would see times roman if they didn't
(one of the most unreadable fonts when non-antialiased, which is how ie
shows it) get to see an optimum view. For those power users who have
exceptional circusmstances, there will be an alternate stylesheet
available, which is how the w3c proposes handling situations similar to
this . I agree that the contrast is a little low and am now implementing
a stylesheet specifically for people who have dyslexic style reading
difficulties. I don't want to use full black on white as a lot of people
have complained that this is too stark for them so I'm upping the
contrast to 80%. Then, people who see this as too dark can set their own
contrast by using the default view stylesheet. People who see this as
too light can also do the same.

>* Arial font. I saw your discussion on your site about Arial vs.
Verdana,
>but for me Verdana is really quite a bit more readable. Also, I think
that
>the fact that Verdana distinguishes between upper case "I" and lower
case
>"l" is a big point in its favor on a site where that distinction may be
>significant.
I don't think the l versus I is a big issue, context provides incredible
clues and we don't read letter by letter any way. As an example, does
this look like the plural or virus? VIRll... Or did it read as Virll? I
can imagine a situation in an olde world drama about roman gods "So lo,
daughter of Inachus" but maybe this is most unlikely. I personally think
that verdana is too extended (opp. Condensed) and also I chose arial to
match the opus/officana font used in the Python logo, not the main
consideration but it works niceley nevertheless. If a majority of people
complain about the use of arial and all state a preference for verdana I
shall obviously change it. However I will make sure that people who wish
to set their own custom styles will have the opportunity.

>* But why force a sans-serif font at all? I know that traditionally,
serif
>fonts have suffered from poor readability on a computer display, and
the
>traditional default browser font has been a serif font, so web
designers
>have forced sans-serif fonts in an attempt to gain more readability.
But for
>me, the combination of the Georgia font, ClearType, and the
high-resolution
>LCD panel have changed that completely. For the first time, I can
really
>make use of the benefits of a serif font (which as you know is more
readable
>than sans-serif in print).
Because the vast majority of people use browser/os combinations that
don't support clear type, that don't anti alias fonts and that default
to times-roman, it would be remiss to configure for this as the default.
But I do agree, good size monitors with high dpi's and a system like
cleartype is more like print and hence serif fonts work very well for
narrative.

>Do me a favor and beg, borrow, or steal a notebook with a
high-resolution
>LCD like mine--a 15" 1600x1200 or a 14.1" 1400x1050 will do the
trick--and
>take a look at this:
I have a sony vaio PCG-C1MHP which is an 8.9" UW-SXGA which equates to
160dpi (your monitors are 133dpi and 124dpi respectively). Like I said,
if I activate cleartype and boost font size it looks great. If I don't
do this then sans-serif looks better.

>Sorry if I sound like a one-trick pony, but when I'm reading text, text
is
>what I care about.
No problem, I appreciate the detailed reply and have made some changes
that go toward what you are after. I hope these are enough to balance
the satisfaction of the individual power user and the majority passive
browser. (I'll upload the changes this evening)

Tim