Readability - CD/web site

[cupton at syclone.net]

I just encountered the most annoying ad yet - a touch screen panel on the
gas pump that sells additives. For only $8.95 you can add gas additive
while the gas is going into your car and it's added to your bill. The
panel swings out in front of the pump, and the audio is very loud to be
able to be heard over the traffic noise. Once the sales spiel is done, you
can turn off the audio to keep from hearing it again (and again and
again). I wonder how long it will take someone to "select all" of the
panel and destroy it. I'm very glad not to have been a part of that
project.

Carolyn

> I'd say that when I happen on to a website with that white text on black
> background thing, I say to myself 'let's get outta here as soon as
> possible'. Trying to interpret info that is in that format tends to give
> me
> a headache.
>   As to why anyone would design info in such a way: I would guess that
> people who do that are much enamored of computer technology (and who
> isn't)
> and also want to emulate the reverse type and sculpted typography that you
> can see on real-world products such as brand and product names. That kind
> of
> design belongs to and works well in that world. But it's not for the PC
> and
> Internet world. When I see a small shiny plastic object in my home I
> expect
> to see, occasionally, a logo or a product name, etc. But when I surf the
> Web, I don't like to happen upon a website that attempts to chisel and
> sculpt info into my skull. Jim Jones  http://www.tinyurl.com/4arjc
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> 2. If it has truly necessary information, I try "select all" to
>>     see if some sort of reversal improves legibility.  If that
>>     fails I try copying the text and pasting it into Emacs or
>>     some other editor. Perhaps instead I try opening the website
>>     with lynx; or maybe I edit the HTML source, correcting the
>>     colors, and save it onto my own machine so I can try reading
>>     it as it should have appeared.
>>
>
> I take a similar approach, although I generally just highlight sections
> of the text I want to read. Generally I see this behavior on
> non-commercial websites when I'm browsing from home (generally browsing
> individual or "artsy" web sites to get design ideas for personal
> projects of my own). If there's ever a very large chunk of text I want
> to read, I will select all of it, then switch over to Open Office Writer
> and "paste without formatting" to drop the text in as black on white so
> I can read it clearly.
>
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