The issue of whitespace comes up during the design phase of every web project. There are several issues to consider including content readability, content comprehension, and content accessibility. Regardless of whether your site is a blog, a news aggregation service, or a web application this is a very important design consideration. TJ wrote an excellent post a while back about the traditional usage of ‘the fold’. We both agreed that a standard like adhering to the fold is behind the times and should be brought up to date. Proponents of such standards believe that accessibility is hindered if content is provided below the fold. But is accessibility not compromised when content is not comprehended?
The issue of readability is how well people can read your content. Readability constitutes how easy and fluid your writing is. Can people read what you have displayed at their normal rate? Do they have to stop and go back to sections because they have gotten lost in your writing? There are two easy ways to solve this issue: line height and font size. By increasing your line height and/or font size by the smallest percentage (even a pixel) you can increase the readability of your site dramatically.
Content comprehension determines what your readers remember after they are done with your article or web site. Do they understand what you have written? A common misconception is that whitespace and content layout have nothing to do with this but the context of the text does. If your page is cluttered you are distracting your readers. If you have an animated gif or a crazy flash animation nudged up against a paragraph your reader’s eyes will wander in that direaction rather than follow along with what you have written or displayed. If you must have animations or banner ads running along your content in a sidebar be nice to your users and give them some space between your primary content and secondary content.
Content accessibility is the idea TJ touched upon in ‘Screen Real Estate: Typical vs Non-Typical Usage‘. He claimed that content in the footer is a great idea. Using all the screen real estate enhances the user’s experience without limiting how the user experiences your web site.
If you decide to follow us into a new standard of content layout by going against the fold we think you will be creating a better experience for the user. If you want to increase comprehension, put all your secondary content in the footer and let the user decide if they want to read it. Is it not more accessible to let the users decide? Also, add some whitespace. It’s 2006 and people have learned to scroll after twelve years of using the internet.
Read the following comparison study and let us know what you think.
Reading Online Text: A Comparison of Four White Space Layouts
tags: web, web design, design, usability
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