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Browser Literacy

Use this guide to solve common problems with web page usability.

Quick fixes for incapacitating designs and layouts when...

The text is too small. Adjust the text size by selecting a larger font size. Go to View > Text Size >

In Internet Explorer, choose from Largest or Larger

In Firefox, choose Increase

In Netscape, use View > Text Zoom to adjust font size

In Safari, Mac users go to View > Make Text Bigger

The text is still too small. Another way to modify text size is to change the screen resolution, using Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display in Windows or System Preferences > Display in Mac. To make text and objects larger, choose a smaller resolution (this may result in having to scroll to see the entire Web page). Flash Video

The screen colors are distracting. Vivid backgrounds and use of font colors other than black may make text challenging to read. One quick solution is to highlight passages with a mouse, which usually results in a greater contrast between text and the background. Flash Video

The columns are too wide. Compared with newspaper or book formats, Web texts may stretch from one display horizon to the other, making it tough to read. Minimize and adjust the width of the browser window to make typical html columns narrower. Flash Video

Hypertext is distracting. As a rule of thumb for hypertext, read the whole sentence first and only click on the hypertext if the word is unknown or confusing. Come back to the article immediately after reading the explanation—don’t stray from the original document. Flash Video

Graphics are distracting. Even though a picture may be worth a thousand words, a lot of Web graphics are unrelated to the content of an article. Don’t be misled by advertisements. In general, pay more attention to text. If the article refers to an illustration, it is probably important to the content of the article.

There’s too much text. While there’s no technique to eliminate text from a reading, using the FIND command (Ctrl + F) will highlight text you want to find quickly on a Web page. This is an excellent technique for finding keywords in articles. See QuickPick in this Kit.

Too many windows are open. Navigating among multiple windows can be confusing. Clicking on links may open a new window or populate an existing one. Knowing how to navigate efficiently back and forth among windows is a real time saver and helps prevent frustration. Navigation exercise.