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| Steve Mulder [an error occurred while processing this directive]is manager of information architecture in the user experience group of Terra Lycos, where he wears as many hats as possible. He pretends to know a lot about design strategy, interaction design, usability, writing for the Web, and Web development.
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When you're creating a Web page, size matters. There's limited space to work with, and page elements take up certain amounts of space. It's a land of constraints, and you've got to know the rules before you get started.
Unfortunately, the browser makers have been naughty, so the rules aren't simple. Each Web browser has its own playing field with its own quirks. If we don't get to know every one of these playing fields, then our pages might very well look crappy in some browser.
The purpose of this quick reference is to collect everything you need to know about the spatial aspects of the major browsers.
Here's what we'll be looking at:
- Canvas size — How wide can a page be and still work at 640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768 resolutions? How much height is available before the user will have to scroll?
- Text size — How big is text when using common text sizing methods? How hard is it to make text the same size across browsers and platforms?
- Form elements — How much room do pulldown menus, text input fields, and other form elements take up?
After reviewing some recent (and free!) browser stats at TheCounter.com and elsewhere, I decided to focus on the following browsers:
- Internet Explorer 4 and higher (Windows and Macintosh)
- Netscape 4 and higher (Windows and Macintosh)
- AOL 7 for Windows
Let the data begin.
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