The usability problems of over-sized web pages

The usability problems in our examples Horizontal scrolling is ALMOST always bad Things which can make pages too wide What about long pages and vertical scrolling?

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The usability problems in our examples

We thought the worst problems were:

• The multiplication table (1st sample) was useless for pairs of large numbers because you had to scroll horizontally to see which column you should be looking at, but then you couldn't see which row you should be looking at.
• Reading the text on-screen (2nd sample) was painful because you had to scroll horizontally to see the end of each line then left to see the start of the next, like a shuttle in a loom. And you couldn't scan it to get an overview before reading it in detail.
• It was impossible to see all 3 corners of the triangle at once (3rd sample), so it was hard to see what the formula referred to.
• None of the pages would print properly, not even if you set your printer to landscape mode.

Horizontal scrolling is ALMOST always bad

Didn't the examples convince you? If not, take a look at www.jaedworks.com's Horizontal Scrolling Must Die! which explains how bad it is and which design techniques often force it on users.

Large tables, especially if their width is fixed.

Large images - images almost always have fixed sizes.

What about long pages and vertical scrolling?

Not such a major problem.

But there are still some things you may have to do to prevent the length of your pages from becoming a usability problem, and we'll look at these after we've finished dealing with page width.

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