I’m not sure about you but for some STRANGE reason… the font on webpages and blogs seem to be getting smaller. I wear glasses and yet, the ability to read various blogs and websites taxes my eyes. Know what I mean?
We can all use the magic keyboard shortcut (Click on Ctrl+) to make the page bigger and bigger each time you click on the + (plus sign) and the Ctrl – to make the screen smaller.
The main question is why. Why are the fonts so tiny? Who decides? And worse yet, gray font on black background is tedious. I just click away, don’t you?
There are rules about using white space, larger fonts and proper colors. Social Triggers offers open space and a clean look. It makes you want to dig deeper and look around, doesn’t it?
Life Hacker is another site I enjoy because you can see many topics in a clean and open space.
Anyone who is curious about how their blog or website looks only has to ask. Ask a colleague, a spouse or your child. Get feedback and then apply what you’ve learned. Get rid of some of the obnoxious ads, tracking devices, loud colors and faint fonts and push away from your keyboard.
After a short while, return and look at your main page. Would your boss have a hard time reading it? How about your Nana?
Have some insight, employ some empathy and deploy some design techniques.
We all want to play in the same sandbox and as the creator of your blog, you have the final say on how it looks. Play nice and make us smile, ok?
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Lifehacker.com
SocialTriggers.com
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Happily ... after retirement 
Very, very interesting and well written.
I have yet to come across a blog or website so interesting that it would make me change my screen font. No way. I know it’s easy, but I won’t do it. I have a lot of free time at my hands, I’m not stressed in any way, but still … in this fast paced day and age, I wouldn’t waste time on trying to read a web page that is designed that way.
This is partly also why I’ve invested time and effort trying to make my own WordPress blog looking appealing and easy to read. I ask people … especially those I know have vision problems, if they can read it easily.
I often wonder about the WordPress Theme-designers … some one them, one wonders what they were thinking. Some are so cluttered so you don’t know where to go at all … this goes especially for the ‘magazine style’ themes, at least some of them.
Dark grey and black is trendy right now … it’s not my thing.
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If it’s difficult to read, I don’t. If it’s too long and doesn’t grab my interest in the first few paragraphs, I don’t read either. Black backgrounds don’t work for me either.
So not only must it appeal to the eye, it must also appeal to the mind.
Great post, as usual, Marge.
Marcia
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I think if I wouldn’t pick up a book or article that is hard to read or with tiny font, why create and publish something like that for the internet. Don’t “they” realize how many ‘mature’ eyes are on the web? Well, perhaps they don’t! Thanks for checking in!
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I agree about the trendy look of some Word Press Themes. The grey font on white background makes me reach for a cloth to clean my glasses only to understand it’d not me after all. Unlike you, I use Ctrl+ all the time. I suppose I could pull my screen closer to where I’m sitting but … I don’t. Thanks for stopping by!
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