

Re: newspaper-style columns

From: Brian Pomeroy <lunar@voicenet.com>
Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 22:12:24 -0400
Message-Id: <l03010d00b17d5e9e625e@[]>
To: dberansky@ucsd.edu
Cc: www-html@w3.org
>I've searched around trying to understand why there aren't any provisions
>for newspaper style columns in HTML. All I've found so far were vague
>hints or explanations that didn't make any sense.  I'd appreciate if
>someone could help me with this (or point me to a resource with a coherent

As has been stated, you *can* fudge columns using CSS or tables.  But it
seems that newsprint-style columns are an awkward way to present online
text.  A reader would have to scroll down, then scroll or jump up, then
scroll down again, all the while keeping careful track of his/her place.
And in a narrow window, columns would be uncomfortably crowded.  The
natural tendency (albeit conditioned) is to read text in a single column,
top to bottom.  Narrowing the column and creating left and right "margins"
further increases readability.  Furthermore, a single column makes text
easy to print.


E-mail:  lunar@voicenet.com
WWW:     Writer's Toolbox - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/6346/
+ Author, "BeginnerNet:  A Beginner's Guide to the
  Internet and the World Wide Web"
Received on Monday, 11 May 1998 22:08:41 GMT
