Critique of a main page please

I'm developing completely using CSS, a first time for me.

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

The links work but I've only put work into the main page.

A couple of errors I'm not sure about:

a) if you click a link, hit the Back button, the "lit" up light on the
horizontal navbar remains lit even though it shouldn't be. If you click
anywhere except on the screen (except another link), it goes back to a
normal CSS image swap as it should be... strange.

b) in Mozilla Firefox, the horizontal navbar cannot be seen, and I have no
clue why. In IE it works perfectly except the above error.

c) I may need to preload the images in CSS.

Any help on these would be appreciated, but would like feedback on the
design especially.

Thanks

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote:

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

There is great irony in your page - the title is "Sunmetal", but yours is
one of the darkest pages I have yet seen. It's not like I am some super
font genius, but shouldn't you have text big enough to be read? If you
feature contemporary fine arts on your page, maybe running your page design
past one of them might help you.

The Doormouse

--
The Doormouse cannot be reached by e-mail without her permission.

In message <p_9vc.606748$Pk3.138023@pd7tw1no>, Applebrown
<applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> writes

I'm developing completely using CSS, a first time for me.

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

The links work but I've only put work into the main page.

A couple of errors I'm not sure about:

a) if you click a link, hit the Back button, the "lit" up light on the
horizontal navbar remains lit even though it shouldn't be. If you click
anywhere except on the screen (except another link), it goes back to a
normal CSS image swap as it should be... strange.

b) in Mozilla Firefox, the horizontal navbar cannot be seen, and I have no
clue why. In IE it works perfectly except the above error.

c) I may need to preload the images in CSS.

Any help on these would be appreciated, but would like feedback on the
design especially.

Thanks

Quite a nice looking page -- but almost impossible to read in normal
room lighting ;-)

The 'darkness' of the site, coupled with the lack of contrast between
background, graphics, and text is a problem.

Another problem is the size of the text which, on my system, is fairly
microscopic. Unfortunately, I use IE as one of my browsers and there is
a problem in that text size can't be increased when the CSS defines the
text size in px.

If you use "font-size:100%" that will solve the problem.

regards.
--
Jake

"The Doormouse" <doormouse (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote:

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

There is great irony in your page - the title is "Sunmetal", but yours is
one of the darkest pages I have yet seen.

Thanks for the commentary. Yes, it is fairly dark, and perhaps too much as
both you and another have pointed that out, so I will try to correct the
contrast issues, which I think it mainly due to size of text. There is a bit
of irony about that and the title, yet I wanted an elegant and comfortable
darker gallery setting with the focus on the pieces of art, which the logo
and links with aimed light are representative of, just to give you my
reasons. Useability of course is the primary concern.

It's not like I am some super
font genius, but shouldn't you have text big enough to be read?

I'm running at 1280x1024, and thought it was just big enough. Are you
running at 1600 or more? To be honest, I've seen countless pages with text
much smaller, especially the Verdana "tech"-type pages... and I was trying
to balance the size of the logo + navbar with text size so that the whole
page had an aesthetic appeal. But I've increased it and am using a relative
font size so that users can change it. After testing it at this new font, I
still like it. The page has been updated.

Thanks for the suggestions. Anything else you can think of regarding the
page layout would be handy.

If you
feature contemporary fine arts on your page, maybe running your page
design
past one of them might help you.

The Doormouse

--
The Doormouse cannot be reached by e-mail without her permission.

"jake" <jake (AT) gododdin (DOT) demon.co.uk> wrote

In message <p_9vc.606748$Pk3.138023@pd7tw1no>, Applebrown
applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) ta...andthisout.com> writes
I'm developing completely using CSS, a first time for me.

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

The links work but I've only put work into the main page.

A couple of errors I'm not sure about:

a) if you click a link, hit the Back button, the "lit" up light on the
horizontal navbar remains lit even though it shouldn't be. If you click
anywhere except on the screen (except another link), it goes back to a
normal CSS image swap as it should be... strange.

b) in Mozilla Firefox, the horizontal navbar cannot be seen, and I have
no
clue why. In IE it works perfectly except the above error.

c) I may need to preload the images in CSS.

Any help on these would be appreciated, but would like feedback on the
design especially.

Thanks



Quite a nice looking page -- but almost impossible to read in normal
room lighting ;-)

Hmm, that's good to know. Is the navbar readable to you? I've changed it to
a relative text size (100%) so that you can change it if need be... and also
increase it so hopefully users won't feel the need to. It's much easier on
the eyes IMO, what do you think?

Any other layout or design critiques are appreciated.

The 'darkness' of the site, coupled with the lack of contrast between
background, graphics, and text is a problem.

Another problem is the size of the text which, on my system, is fairly
microscopic. Unfortunately, I use IE as one of my browsers and there is
a problem in that text size can't be increased when the CSS defines the
text size in px.

If you use "font-size:100%" that will solve the problem.

regards.
--
Jake

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote:

I'm running at 1280x1024, and thought it was just big enough. Are you
running at 1600 or more?

My screensize is 800x600 - and I noticed that your text cannot be resized
in my browser to larger. About half the people use my screen resolution,
and half use yours.

To be honest, I've seen countless pages with
text much smaller, especially the Verdana "tech"-type pages...

I find them illegible, too. Often, it is the page of a Flash weenie or
propellor-head. A good rule of thumb is font size at no less than 12pt
size - or simply never scale the text down from the default.

Thanks for the suggestions. Anything else you can think of regarding
the page layout would be handy.

'kay.

The Doormouse

--
The Doormouse cannot be reached by e-mail without her permission.

"The Doormouse" <doormouse (AT) att (DOT) net> wrote

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote:

I'm running at 1280x1024, and thought it was just big enough. Are you
running at 1600 or more?

My screensize is 800x600 - and I noticed that your text cannot be resized
in my browser to larger. About half the people use my screen resolution,
and half use yours.

To be honest, I've seen countless pages with
text much smaller, especially the Verdana "tech"-type pages...

I find them illegible, too. Often, it is the page of a Flash weenie or
propellor-head. A good rule of thumb is font size at no less than 12pt
size - or simply never scale the text down from the default.

It actually was at size twelve, Trebuchet MS, and looked very big on my
screen at 800x600, which is why I was curious. Well, it's been changed
regardless to 100%, so you should be able to see it much bigger now and
change it if you wanted... a noticeable improvement IMO, especially for
far-sighted people.

Thanks for the suggestions. Anything else you can think of regarding
the page layout would be handy.

'kay.

The Doormouse

--
The Doormouse cannot be reached by e-mail without her permission.

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote:

It actually was at size twelve, Trebuchet MS, and looked very big on my
screen at 800x600, which is why I was curious.

I use IE6 and sometimes Firefox on a WinXP box, both at 800x600. You cannot
get more "plain vanilla" than this.

The Doormouse

--
The Doormouse cannot be reached by e-mail without her permission.

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote

I'm developing completely using CSS, a first time for me.

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

The links work but I've only put work into the main page.

A couple of errors I'm not sure about:

a) if you click a link, hit the Back button, the "lit" up light on the
horizontal navbar remains lit even though it shouldn't be. If you click
anywhere except on the screen (except another link), it goes back to a
normal CSS image swap as it should be... strange.

b) in Mozilla Firefox, the horizontal navbar cannot be seen, and I have no
clue why. In IE it works perfectly except the above error.

c) I may need to preload the images in CSS.

Any help on these would be appreciated, but would like feedback on the
design especially.

Thanks

I am a huge fan of the dark burnished or brushed steel look. however
your light up links and the title graphic need a bit more contrast. it
is so dark on my screen i had to turn it all the way up just to see
that there were links there.

other then that, the "Look" and "Feel" of the site is great.

very best regards,

"sub_dev_null" <sub_dev_null (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

"Applebrown" <applebrown (AT) gamebanshee (DOT) takethis.andthisout.com> wrote in
message news:<p_9vc.606748$Pk3.138023@pd7tw1no>...
I'm developing completely using CSS, a first time for me.

www.sunbadgeco.com/sunmetal/index.htm

The links work but I've only put work into the main page.

A couple of errors I'm not sure about:

a) if you click a link, hit the Back button, the "lit" up light on the
horizontal navbar remains lit even though it shouldn't be. If you click
anywhere except on the screen (except another link), it goes back to a
normal CSS image swap as it should be... strange.

b) in Mozilla Firefox, the horizontal navbar cannot be seen, and I have
no
clue why. In IE it works perfectly except the above error.

c) I may need to preload the images in CSS.

Any help on these would be appreciated, but would like feedback on the
design especially.

Thanks


I am a huge fan of the dark burnished or brushed steel look. however
your light up links and the title graphic need a bit more contrast. it
is so dark on my screen i had to turn it all the way up just to see
that there were links there.

other then that, the "Look" and "Feel" of the site is great.

very best regards,

Thanks! I have to keep in mind people with darker screens and brighter
rooms are going to be viewing this... I'm on a nice 19" monitor with good
contrast in a slightly darker room. I'll see about upping the contrast in
PS.