Like many others, I find much of this site difficult to read, There is probably a whole science devoted to this sort of thing, but going back some years it was that yellow text on black background was highest contrast, always clearest, but green was more restful. Now, the fm site has a dark background, and virtually the same orange/brown colour as used here, and is easy to read, even allowing for familiarity. The default font here is rather compressed, too. Font design a separate science....
A few years ago, when I was selling web space, an isp sent me a number of brochures, cd's etc, all a bit 'arty-farty', large background images of coffee cups, etc. But this was also on the technical settings page - it was impossible to read the text which was overprinted in a lighter brown.
I would respectfully suggest, that if you want this site to be the very best there is, that a study is made of the issues involved, bearing in mind the average age of the forum members, and the fact that many of us spend much of our time in front of vdu screens (the worse thing for eyes, next to flourescent lighting) and peering through tiny slr viewfinders.
It seems to be a trend in web site design - that is an oxymoron - to try and impress with how clever the designer is, instead of presenting the content accurately and in an easily 'getatable' format.
What I am trying to say, is get back to basics, what is the whole object of the exercise, and do that the very best you can.
I realise that much of this is embedded in the software of the 'forum software package' that is used, but a simple example - this edit box size seems to be fixed - it takes up about a tenth of my screen area. There is a load of fancy stuff re php tags, whatever, but apparently no way to increase the size of the text or the text box to save scrolling up and down. I think the fundamental objective of a text entry box is to be able to easily enter text, and edit it, but I could be wrong....
Best wishes,
A few years ago, when I was selling web space, an isp sent me a number of brochures, cd's etc, all a bit 'arty-farty', large background images of coffee cups, etc. But this was also on the technical settings page - it was impossible to read the text which was overprinted in a lighter brown.
I would respectfully suggest, that if you want this site to be the very best there is, that a study is made of the issues involved, bearing in mind the average age of the forum members, and the fact that many of us spend much of our time in front of vdu screens (the worse thing for eyes, next to flourescent lighting) and peering through tiny slr viewfinders.
It seems to be a trend in web site design - that is an oxymoron - to try and impress with how clever the designer is, instead of presenting the content accurately and in an easily 'getatable' format.
What I am trying to say, is get back to basics, what is the whole object of the exercise, and do that the very best you can.
I realise that much of this is embedded in the software of the 'forum software package' that is used, but a simple example - this edit box size seems to be fixed - it takes up about a tenth of my screen area. There is a load of fancy stuff re php tags, whatever, but apparently no way to increase the size of the text or the text box to save scrolling up and down. I think the fundamental objective of a text entry box is to be able to easily enter text, and edit it, but I could be wrong....
Best wishes,