Website Dimensions and Screen Resolutions - Part 2
April 9th, 2008 | Published in Website Layout
Basically, elastic layout means there is nothing on the website that has a fixed size (except for some images). The text, margins, etc. are all assigned a default size, but the size changes depending on the users browser settings.
The benefits of having an elastic layout are:
- One Size Fits All
Just like those mini-mits, an elastic layout will fit any browser window size. Whether a person is using a mobile device, such as a Blackberry or iPhone, or they are viewing the Web on a 30″ widescreen display, the website will fit on the screen and will optimize the space most efficiently. - Scalable Text
Many users change the default text size on their browser according to how they would like to view it. Some like the text to be really large so they can read it better, some like it to be small so they can have the browser window smaller. The problem with this is that if the website has a fixed size for everything, resizing the text can often break the design and make it look bad. With an elastic layout, the design will stay intact regardless of the browser settings. - Future Friendly
As new browsers get updated and old browsers get thrown out, the languages that are used to build websites changes. The methods used to build elastic layouts tend to be more accepting to new language changes and will adapt more easily. This means less cost to the website in the future.
There are one or two downfalls to having an elastic layout. First, if you are concerned about the design changing for every user, you will not want an elastic layout. Because the physical size of the website will change depending on the browser window size, your design and layout will adjust automatically to the window size. Secondly, design is somewhat limited because of the nature of a layout that stretches every which way. There are certain design elements that may not work properly if a browser window is too small or too large.
So, if you are wondering what would work best for your website, contact us and we would love to discuss it with you.
My next article will contain information about visitor platforms, including browser window size, operating systems, browser type, and browser plugins (such as Flash and Javascript), and the limitations of different platforms.