Design for dialup or broadband
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- soisbelle
Do you still design for dial-up?
- umhello0
i keep it in mind, it helps for file size management, but most people have high speed isps now anyways
- soisbelle0
Personally, I never used to like designing Flash because I didn't want people who didn't have it to view missing pieces on the page. But now I'm thinking more and more people would have broadband, so, like you say, while you'd keep it in mind, you could probably push the boundaries a bit more in favour of broadband.
Just wondering what other people are designing for and their thoughts on the issue.
- torres0
It's our duty to make sites so huge that the people still on dialup are so pissed off that they get broadband!
:)
- slag_you_off0
depends... I guess the people who find the internet the most useful live in Africa, S.America and Asia. I don't recon they get broadband.
Whilst we have good connections, you should remember that the internet is a lowest common denominator medium.
On the other hand: great photos should be shown at 1024x768. fuck the poor people.
- _me_0
surely its all dependant on who your target audience is...
and concept. design for the experience not the pipe.
- torres0
wow. that's one of the best responses I've read on NT.
It started out so insightful and caring that I never saw the last line coming.
I love it. :)
- jevad0
yep - knowing your target audience is paramount.
Having said that - it is always best to bear in mind that a good whack of people using teh int0rw3b are still on dial-up
- soisbelle0
Totally agree! And great responses.
- ********0
design based on the content/target audience; start with flash player 7, 1280x1024, broadband, etc. and then start cutting away.
- soisbelle0
J-red, it's like Coco Chanel when she said, "before you leave, look in the mirror and remove one thing."?! Hehe.
- Mick0
Lots of high end government clients I deal with require a usable site for modem users - part of their usability requirements and internal government requirements.
It's also a requirement for any site I've done that involves e-commerce. Try telling a company that takes in revenue from their online product that 10% of their audience (or $X,000 of their revenue) will have to be patient with loading.
For those that care... Outside the US and UK, many countries have much smaller percent of broadband users.
- NegativeSpace0
I agree , it does depend on the target audience.
Although i do think that the limits should be pushed a bit in the right circumstance. If no one was to make anything that required broadband connection, there would be little motivation for people to move to it.
Compatibility has a similar issue. make is as compatible as you can but I don't think it should hinder your creativity or concept 9unless of course you are using the very latest browser technology) If everyone designed for 3.0 browsers, there would be less motivation for users to upgrade.
Mick does bring up a good point though about broadband in other countries.
I think its a good idea to have a text based site geared for dial-up users, and then another vesion for broadband if it is really needed. Although I am sure many clients do not have the budget for this.
- jevad0
one. simple. solution.
standards compliant CSS and XHTML websites.
separate content from structure
ba-zing
- welded0
That's exactly what I was thinking. Deliver said content via a database and you're golden.
- jevad0
database driven = not so good for search engines...realtive to your target audience I suppose
- welded0
I've been informed that search engines can spider their way through database-driven sites. No first hand experience, though.
If the content is for Flash, however, there''s now way to index it, but at least it can be dynamically loaded.
- jevad0
The price is WRONG Bob!
- welded0
Hm. How do sites like Amazon get listed then?
- JamesEngage0
shouldn't confuse flash sites being large to download.
- Dancer0
I use a 56k at home, I do live out in the sticks though and Broadband has not made it to my area. No matter what though I say people should always design for home dial up, prevents lazy optimizing, plus large sites can drain peoples monthly bandwidth, meaning they may never return.
As a rule I do not wait around for sites over 300k (with some exceptions)