Sent by Bobby Jack on 18 February 2009 17:05
From: Ron Koster [EMAIL-REMOVED]>
> Hey, I have a solution: ALL web sites should be created as PDF files!
> HTML/CSS be damned! With PDF, everything looks *exactly* how you
> intended, it's zoomable to any factor you want, and prints out
> perfectly each time, every time.
Every frustrated designer new to the (modern) web reaches this conclusion eventually, although at
least you didn't suggest one big gif! :-) Of course, you're not being serious, but this does
highlight the key difference: PDFs, etc, are fixed layout formats whilst HTML+CSS is flexible.
Obviously, some disadvantages come with that flexibility, but the advantages, in particular
accessibility, are not to be sniffed at. The trouble with the PDF approach, of course, is that text
does not 'reflow' according to zoom level, so you end up having to horizontally scroll at certain
font/window sizes, and that makes reading a document painful beyond belief. PDF was never really
intended for screen viewing, but as a printable format, which explains this alternative approach.
There's possibly an argument here relating to the standard browser behaviour for 'minimum font
size'. Browsers currently 'round up' any fonts below that size to the minimum. It would be an
interesting alternative approach (possibly configurable) to *scale up all fonts* until they're at
least that minimum, so, at least, everything remains in proportion. This would solve your subscript
issue but, I fear, could well end up breaking inflexible designs. Either way, it's not really a
practical solution just yet, but something to mull over :-)
- Bobby
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