[Sigia-l] Faceted classification browsing tool

[Hassan Schroeder]

Boniface Lau responded to:

>>Leaving font face/size determination entirely to user defaults is
>>naïve because it assumes the vast majority of users are capable
>>and/or desirous of speccing their own type.

with:

> May be it is not that naive. 

Nah, maybe it's just wishful thinking :-)

> Also, the more time people spend using something, the more likely they
> will try to customize it to suit their preference. People have been
> spending more and more time surfing the web. Thus, chances are very
> good that many have customized their browser settings. That is just
> common sense.

Uh, "chances are very good"?? That's not common sense, it's belief
without any evidence to back it up.

Here's a data point: for several years I taught a basic HTML course
a couple of times a month at Sun Microsystems -- so the audience was
people who were sufficiently interested in the Web to want to become
HTML-literate contributors. Most had been computer users for several
years (minimum) though few were "technical" (programmers, sysadmins).
All were regular/frequent Web browser users.

Out of hundreds of students, I could count on both hands the number
who knew they could change their browser's default font size, or had
spent *any* time exploring those menu items at the top of the window.

They *used* the browser they had available, *as installed*. Period.
Down to the default home page.

I've yet to see any evidence that this was an atypical population :-)

FWIW!
-- 
Hassan Schroeder ----------------------------- hassan at webtuitive.com
Webtuitive Design ===  (+1) 408-938-0567   === http://webtuitive.com

                           dream.  code.