3 ms·
Most authors either don't know or don't care to make their content accessible and occasionally you have the author knows but is intentionally hostile to the ide
by cptskippy 11y ago
Most authors either don't know or don't care to make their content accessible and occasionally you have the author knows but is intentionally hostile to the idea. The definition of what is unreadable is very personal and can be a minefield of user preference and also physical impairment.
Frequently I'll come across websites linked to form HN that seem to fall into the hostile category. Not that they are intentionally making their content hard to read but rather that they say "browser defaults should be good enough" with motherfuckingwebsite.com in mind. Amusingly these plain looking websites often have very complex markup or css that just makes matters worse. I know that people have said bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com shows how little it takes to make a site readable but honestly it only takes 2 of the 7 rules used there coupled with browser defaults to make your site's content readable.
There's some basic and very loose rules any author can follow to make their reader's lives easier.
1 - Paragraphs should be ~60-80 characters wide. Too narrow and your eyes get fatigued, too long and your brain loses focus.
2 - White space, have some.
3 - Line space, 100-150% of font-size.
4 - font-size, 16px/12pt or greater.
Accessibility and Usability doesn't have to be onerous or difficult.