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0 pointsvenus13y ago0 comments

> expecting the average user to know that they can zoom

I'm all for never overestimating the technical literacy of one's users, but .. really? The average person doesn't even know they CAN zoom? That seems an "ignoratum too far", like not knowing they can alter the volume on their stereo.

Touch screen devices make it ridiculously easy, too. Surely the average user has worked out by now that they can change the size of a web site they are viewing.

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4 comments · 3 top-level

adrianhoward13y ago· 1 in thread

Average desktop user does not know how to zoom. I have done hundreds of usability tests and user observation in my time - the number of folk who know how to zoom text is vanishingly small.

venusOP13y ago

Well, thanks for the depressing truth. I'll have to adjust my assumptions. It's turned into a learning experience.

DanBC13y ago

Maybe on tablets and smart phones most people know they can zoom.

I strongly believe, but have nothing to support it, that most people don't know they can zoom their browsers.

bjourne13y ago

For a long time browsers shipped with basically broken zoom functionality. You could zoom, but it would break the page layout completely, make menu links disappear and images look ugly. It wasn't until WebKit browsers like Chrome came around that zooming to undo designers micro font sizes became usable in practice. There are still lots of sites around that breaks when zoomed in for one reason (flash) or another.

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