Do people still use 800x600?

[4096k]

I can't seem to find any new stats on the subject. I am doing a web site redesign and I based the design on 1024x768 or better. Some people have said that they have to scroll left and right too much. I discoverd they are using 800x600. I didn't know anyone still used that.

The type of people that are viewing the site have old eye, so I guess 800x600 may be a factor, but I would like to find some javascript or some poll that will give me a good idea just how many are using that resolution.

A very first draf with buttons that need to be fixed is here if anyone wants to take a look.

http://www.4096k.net/pollys-test/

Thanks for any input.

Oh, and I was know as YFS200 on this forum, but I can't seem to login.

[Wassercrats]

20% (http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp). (See the middle of the page)

[Randall]

My own personal experience is that CRT users above a certain age use 800x600 almost exclusively. And some of them continue to do so after buying a 19" LCD. 20%. (See the middle of the page) That agrees with the Google Analytics numbers for one of my sites. About 55% are running at 1024x768, but the 800x600 group is too big to ignore.

I'd suggest setting up an Analytics account to get an idea of what your visitors are using. General statistics may not mean much if your demographic skews younger (or older).

Randall

[Jeff]

My current preference is to do a relative width layout that looks great at 1024 x 768 but just fits (tightly and without much white space at all) at 800 x 600 also.

[Mandi]

There's the thing about Users of a Certain age (because of diminished close vision, and ability to read small type) . . . but visual acuity issues cut across age lines. I really prefer to make the page at least minimally usable, without left/right scrolling, at 800 wide . . . but one of my teens is in that visual range, so maybe I'm just super aware of it. (This is a kid who has been in bifocals since she was NINE.) I just had a client in her young 40's who has a retinopathy condition, and requires Big Everything on her screen - so you just never know. I think to design exclusively for the wide res people is kind of presumptive. At the very least, put a link near the top of the page that offers an alternative layout for 640 and 800 - you could do that with CSS.

I also find that there are a surprising number of people still winging it on their old 15" CRT's, and 1024 res. is really tough, even on those of us without visual issues. I'm looking for a No Good to Anyone Else monitor like that for myself right now, because I need to stick it in a small space and it'll just be for a surfing and email, experimenting type box - so who cares if it's *nice*?




Uhhhh . . . . my arms just LIKE to hold the newspaper out like that. It doesn't mean anything. Really :dopey: .

[Andilinks]

My preference is like Jeff's except that I add a column on the right with an additional menu so it looks good on a super-wide screen too.

I am going to buy a PDA for the purpose of targeting that market which is growing rapidly and may overtake the 800x600 group. The tiny screen users also tend to be a better demographic for ads...

[Evoir]

How do you get a google analytics account? I have been on the list to get one for months now.... if anyone has any invites or whatever, I'd love to get in on the action there.

I still design for 800 pixels wide. It just seems like a good place to be. Good design can happen at 800 pixels.

[Andilinks]

I have been on the list to get one for months now.... Me too. At the beginning I figured I would wait until they got the bugs out, it seems like now I'm waiting for it to be perfected. On the other hand when I do finally get it there's no doubt it will be properly road-tested.

[Randall]

How do you get a google analytics account? I have been on the list to get one for months now.... if anyone has any invites or whatever, I'd love to get in on the action there. Hmmm. Didn't know they were putting limits on new signups. And unlike Gmail, current users don't have invites to give out. :hrmm: I think to design exclusively for the wide res people is kind of presumptive. Ironically, it's the Very Large Type in 4096k/YFS200's menus and the huge logo that account for a lot of the spillover. People of any age will have no trouble reading them, but it would be easy to resize for 800x600 and still have decent-sized fonts.

That strawberry pie looks mighty good...

Randall

[4096k]

I made a little script that records stats. Here is what I have so far.

bit, size, percent
bit32,1024x768,39%
bit32,800x600,12%
bit16,800x600,11%
bit16,1024x768,10%
bit32,1280x1024,4%
bit32,1152x864,2%


Looks like I will have to design for 800x600. A good 22% of the people use it.
If I size down the graphics, it should work.

Thanks for the input.