One thing about having a five year-old blog is that I also have a five year-old blog template. No cutting-edge XHTML or cascading style sheets for me. This page is still generated by HTML code that's almost out of the ark. These ancient instructions create a single slab-like grey sidebar down the right-hand edge, plus a free-flowing text-space to the left that expands to fill the width available. As far as I'm concerned, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Except you never know, my code might just be broke.
I can't be sure which browser you're using to view my site. Because I use out-of-date coding you may well be seeing this blog completely differently to me. Internet Explorer users, your line spacing isn't always the same as what I'm seeing in Firefox. You Safari users, your font looks completely different to me and your bold is definitely a lot bolder. And if you're not using a browser at all because you're viewing my RSS feed instead, you may well just be looking at raw barely-formatted text. I must never assume that anyone else is seeing what I intended. Never second guess your readers. • see what your website looks like in Safari • see what your website looks like in 20+ different browser/platform combinations (be patient, it might take an hour)
Being rather old, my blog template also makes several assumptions about text size. There are no proportional adjustable dimensions on this blog, just clunky fixed font sizes. That big "diamond geezer" title across the top, that's always in font size 36, even if your screen is rather narrow and those two words don't fit. Those dates across the top of each post, they're always 14 pixels high, whatever the peculiarities of your operating system. And my ordinary text, like what I'm writing now, is set permanently at "10 point", no matter whether your eyesight can cope with that or not. Web accessibility experts despair at sites like mine, trapped permanently in a potentially illegible 2002 netherworld. Apologies to my partially-sighted readers, it's not good enough is it? • see my blog struggling to fit onto a particularly narrow cameraphone • see my blog shrunk to tiny size on one of those new fangled iPhones
So I've made a few tentative steps towards cross-platform accessibility. I've tweaked my template so that various font sizes are now more scalable, and I wondered whether you can spot any difference. My big "diamond geezer" title at the top of the page is no longer "font size: 36pt", it's "font size: 3em" (that's three times normal, whatever normal is). The dates on my horizontal blue strips are no longer "font size: 14px", they're now "font size: 1.1em". And my ordinary text size (like what you're reading now) is no longer "font size: 10pt", it's "font size: 0.8em". I'm told that these three changes should make my blog a lot more accessible and adaptable, as well as a bit more DDA-compliant. But I can't be sure.
• If you think that what you can see is an improvement, do tell me why it's better. • If you can't see any difference at all (like I can't), then great, let's carry on. • But if these changes have buggered up how you view this blog and you're sitting there going "oh hell, whatever has he done, I can barely read the site any more", do let me know and I'll revert back to my disabled-unfriendly 2002 template again. • (assuming you can read any of this in the first place, that is)
I can't be sure which browser you're using to view my site. Because I use out-of-date coding you may well be seeing this blog completely differently to me. Internet Explorer users, your line spacing isn't always the same as what I'm seeing in Firefox. You Safari users, your font looks completely different to me and your bold is definitely a lot bolder. And if you're not using a browser at all because you're viewing my RSS feed instead, you may well just be looking at raw barely-formatted text. I must never assume that anyone else is seeing what I intended. Never second guess your readers.
