Please help! Regarding reading our website on small hand-held devices

[PeteWaldo]

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If anyone out there has an iphone or ipad or other hand-held device, could you please render an opinion on how easy or difficult the website pages at the following links are to read?

Also others, without hand-held devices, could you please weigh in on whether you think the change would enhance your enjoyment or detract from your reading experience, at each of the four margin choices. I don't know anything about iphones, but on a desktop or laptop folks can narrow their browser with the middle button in the upper right, and then scrunch the side of their browser in until they get the preferred number of words per line of text. You can hold the Ctrl button and then hit the + key, repeatedly until you get the font size you want. Hit Ctrl and then - to shrink the font back down. Does this work the same way for an iphone? Can you narrow the browser? Is it just as convenient?

Today I thought it might be best to expand the margins, so that when a small hand-held device like an iphone is used, the font could be expanded, without having to simultaneously scroll from right to left to read the page.

I went to a 2" margin here:
http://www.islamandthetruth.com/third_epistle_john.htm

A 1.5" margin here:
http://www.islamandthetruth.com/second_epistle_john.htm

A 1" margin here:
http://www.islamandthetruth.com/index.htm

A 0.5" margin here:
http://www.islamandthetruth.com/id60.htm

And no margin here:
http://www.islamandthetruth.com/jude.htm

The 2" margins are a bit limiting, since it makes it more of a newspaper column, and there is no way to change it make the rows of print contain more words. While on a desktop the page with no margins can have the browser squeezed down to that same short row length of the 2" margin, if desired.

I would sure appreciate some input on this, in regard to relative ease of use on the various brands of iphone, ipad or any other such devices. (If you have visited any of those pages before be sure to hit your refresh button, so you aren't looking at a cached page.)

Also my website font has always been a bit on the large side at a 14 font. Do you think this is too big, too small, or about right?

Regarding reading this forum, one forum member mentioned there is a relatively inexpensive app for enhancing forum viewing.

Also opinion on the navigation links at the top of the page, and how hard or easy the links at the top of the page are. Does this area take up too much space?

Also, for mobile device users, do you expand the font on the site to read it, or are you comfortable using it just as it appears on your screen by default?

[ExMilitary]

I don't have any handheld devices, but I do like a larger font when I am doing a lot of reading.

[PeteWaldo]

I don't have any handheld devices, but I do like a larger font when I am doing a lot of reading.

With your computer set the way it is, do you have any preference as to how many words appear on each line, in each of those four examples? Does one make it a little easier to read than another?

Do you know that you can enlarge the font on any website by holding down the Ctrl key and pushing the + key (this forum included)? Repeatedly for larger and larger font. Hit Ctrl and the - key to reduce the size of the font.
I used a computer for a decade or so before I found that out.
You can see it in practice when I pump the font up at the beginning of this video (6 second mark): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-UfVe57Ng
(it doesn't have anything to do with any initial blurriness you might observe. I think that's just youtube since when I went back to the beginning it didn't do it on the second view.)

Also on my desktop I set my screen resolution very low (1024 x 768) to make everything much larger to begin with. That's about the lowest resolution I can go before having to scroll sideways for most sites. The image doesn't look low resolution or blurry at all.

At 41 years old I'm guessing you have just gotten, or are about ready to get, your first pair of magnifiers at the dime store?

[PeteWaldo]

My wife just got an iphone (we were due for new phones with our Verizon service) and doesn't know how to do much on it yet. Some months ago I pursued this subject online and found websites, that you can test websites on, that are supposed to mimic iphones and such, but they either tried to load my computer with malware, or they just didn't work out too well.

In the process I did find this link to Google that can help iphone users view any site that is iphone unfriendly: http://www.google.com/gwt/n
You just copy and paste the URL into that window at Google and hit "go" then "go to page".

So it didn't strike me until yesterday that I could now test my sites on a real iphone! I did a little browsing with her iphone, and realized that my recent tendency to favor no margin at all on my websites (purely guessing and stabbing in the dark), was a disaster! When there is no margin, you can't expand the font on an iphone, without then having to scroll back and forth sideways, to read every line!

I would still appreciate the input by forum members, with any type of device, to see which is their preference.

[PeteWaldo]

This site has the most links at the top. I don't know how to reduce the number without making the site two parts, which might obscure the second part. Is it passable on a phone as is?
http://www.petewaldo.com/

[ExMilitary]

With your computer set the way it is, do you have any preference as to how many words appear on each line, in each of those four examples? Does one make it a little easier to read than another?

I prefer a margin.  The second example seems the best to me.  Also, something you could try that sort of makes things look a little neater (at least to me) is to set the paragraph alignment to justify.  This straightens the edges on both the left and right sides of the page.
 

Do you know that you can enlarge the font on any website by holding down the Ctrl key and pushing the + key (this forum included)? Repeatedly for larger and larger font. Hit Ctrl and the - key to reduce the size of the font.
I used a computer for a decade or so before I found that out.
You can see it in practice when I pump the font up at the beginning of this video (6 second mark): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17-UfVe57Ng

Yes, and you can accomplish the same thing with Ctrl + Mousewheel.  Hold down control while rolling the mouse wheel back and forth.

Ctrl + zero (in Firefox) will return to 'normal'.

Also on my desktop I set my screen resolution very low (1024 x 768) to make everything much larger to begin with. That's about the lowest resolution I can go before having to scroll sideways for most sites. The image doesn't look low resolution or blurry at all.

At 41 years old I'm guessing you have just gotten, or are about ready to get, your first pair of magnifiers at the dime store?

Not yet.  My vision is still 20/20, but my eyes do tire more quickly than they used to.

[PeteWaldo]

Also, something you could try that sort of makes things look a little neater (at least to me) is to set the paragraph alignment to justify.  This straightens the edges on both the left and right sides of the page.

I find that when I read a justified page, the sentences that are sacrificed in the process that have the giant spaces in them, read more slowly than a normal sentence. Don't you?
Let alone that I don't think I can do that with my website software (I don't write HTML and the software allows me to do things really fast and easily).
Also I am guessing that a justified page would either have to be locked into a rigid form somehow. Like this page:
http://ellisskolfield.net/
That doesn't allow the words in each line to shift to the next line down when scrunching a browser in sideways like this site does:
http://www.falseprophetmuhammad.com
And if it did allow words to shift down, and still have each line justified, I'm guessing the page would definitely load more slowly, though I know next to nothing about these things (blessedly I have been able to do OK in spite of my ignorance). Indeed a guy at my internet host said the page looked great on his phone. Also appreciated the larger font as do you.

[ExMilitary]

I find that when I read a justified page, the sentences that are sacrificed in the process that have the giant spaces in them, read more slowly than a normal sentence. Don't you?

I don't think so, although I've never taken the time to notice.  What I find has influence on my reading speed are information density, depth of comprehension I am trying to achieve, and familiarity with the vocabulary.

I just think justified margins look nicer.  It is nothing more than preference to me.  If you believe it would actually hinder the reader, then, by all means, keep it the way it is.

Let alone that I don't think I can do that with my website software (I don't write HTML and the software allows me to do things really fast and easily).
Also I am guessing that a justified page would either have to be locked into a rigid form somehow. Like this page:
http://ellisskolfield.net/
That doesn't allow the words in each line to shift to the next line down when scrunching a browser in sideways like this site does:
http://www.falseprophetmuhammad.com
And if it did allow words to shift down, and still have each line justified, I'm guessing the page would definitely load more slowly, though I know next to nothing about these things (blessedly I have been able to do OK in spite of my ignorance). Indeed a guy at my internet host said the page looked great on his phone. Also appreciated the larger font as do you.

Internet stuff is what I actually do for a living. (Programming, web page design, systems integration, etc).

[PeteWaldo]

Internet stuff is what I actually do for a living. (Programming, web page design, systems integration, etc).

Wish you had mentioned that earlier. I wouldn't have had to be so embarrassed!

So if you wrote a web page that was justified, but also had the ability to shift words down to the next line when the sides of the browser were scrunched in, would it load as quickly as the same page that was not justified?

[ExMilitary]

Internet stuff is what I actually do for a living. (Programming, web page design, systems integration, etc).

Wish you had mentioned that earlier. I wouldn't have had to be so embarrassed!

Oh, please don't be embarrassed.  Often times I learn new things about computers from people much less experienced than me.  I have lots of experience, but my knowledge isn't exhaustive.  I've been doing this for about 22 years, but they change often enough that you just have to keep learning.

So if you wrote a web page that was justified, but also had the ability to shift words down to the next line when the sides of the browser were scrunched in, would it load as quickly as the same page that was not justified?

Technically speaking, it would probably load a little more slowly, but considering the amount of additional processor time and bandwidth needed, I'm not sure the difference would be noticeable, and if it were it would likely be negligible.

However, to your point about readability (which is of far more important consideration when designing a web page),  I can understand how distracting unevenly spaced words (and letters) can be to some folks.

[YHWHisLove]

I prefer the larger margin as I am on an iPhone most of the time and the margins allow me to expand the text that is easier to read. But then I am older and my vision is getting worse. I have a magnifier I use at times when I lose my dollar store glasses.

Any way is fine really as I can always enlarge the font on my old phone but it males it difficult to read I find as then I have to constantly be moving the screen all over.

Thanks for asking readers. That is very thoughtful of you!

[PeteWaldo]

I prefer the larger margin as I am on an iPhone most of the time and the margins allow me to expand the text that is easier to read. But then I am older and my vision is getting worse. I have a magnifier I use at times when I lose my dollar store glasses.

Any way is fine really as I can always enlarge the font on my old phone but it males it difficult to read I find as then I have to constantly be moving the screen all over.

Thanks for asking readers. That is very thoughtful of you!

I have seen it on an I phone since I first posted this thread. By preferring "wide" are 1" margins (that I eventually settled on) enough?



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