Gene Watson Tribute Website (Full Version)

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Sean Brady -> Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/10/2005 15:06:56)

My Gene Watson dedicated website has had a revamp. Any comments/suggestions would be very much appreciated.



womble -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/10/2005 15:08:18)

Erm, URL?



Sean Brady -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/10/2005 15:09:17)

If I had a brain, I would be dangerous! The URL is www.gene-watson.com



womble -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/10/2005 15:29:29)

Generally I liked the look of the site and though I’m not a big fan of black backgrounds I thought it worked well on your site. My only criticism would be that the text is very small.

Also a strange blank pop-up window kept appearing on the guestbook page and the link text on the bottom of the guestbook is virtually invisible until you hover over it, but other than that, I liked it.



jaybee -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/10/2005 15:33:14)

I've always liked the design of that site and now I'm having trouble remembering what's changed. Seem to recall it's something to do with duplicating pictures.

That is good. My only possible reservation is the red on the black and whether there is sufficient contrast. Otherwise I love it.



dpf -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/10/2005 15:41:15)

a big improvement over its predecesor (which wasnt bad)



anderskorte -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 7:26:49)

quote:

My only criticism would be that the text is very small.

The text is just the right size. I've heard testimonials from poor-sighted web users that some small Arial or Tahoma text may even be easier to read than e.g. large Times or Comic Sans -- just if it isn't too small!

quote:

My only possible reservation is the red on the black and whether there is sufficient contrast.

Imho there is enough contrast and if there isn't, the white hover effect solves this.

What I myself have to complain is that the homepage is center aligned but the other pages aren't. So why not make the homepage left aligned, too?

anders



Nicole -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 8:17:55)

Hi Sean,

I still like it even though i prefer the old one more. To me, there isn't enough contrast with the red on black, it may be solved by the white hover, but i don't believe you should have to move your mouse all over a page to be able to read it.

The text was also a bit small as Jaybee has mentioned also.

This other thing is his photo at the top of the page. Why not try to fade it in at the top rather than the sharp line cutting the very top of his head off?

Nicole



jaybee -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 8:34:30)

No, Jaybee didn't say the text was too small, Womble did. Jaybee said the red on black was a bit tough to read.

quote:

Imho there is enough contrast and if there isn't, the white hover effect solves this.


If someone who is colourblind doesn't have enough contrast they won't see the text at all so they'll only find the white contrast by accident. When was the last time you ran your mouse across an entire page just in case there was a hidden link?

quote:

The text is just the right size. .


Obviously not for Womble who is, as you put it, poor sighted.
I'm pleased to see that it will resize in the browser though, so you can increase it Womble.



d a v e -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 10:49:44)

jb - would contrast be an issue re: red and black for colourblind users?

there is more contrast when the text size is increased - which most users can do. for me there is enough contrast anyway

also wouldn't visually impaired users be using their own stylesheet (hey maybe not *all* the onus should be on the developer ;) or at least their user defined link colours?! :)

site is looking good but should remain centred.



jaybee -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 12:06:59)

quote:

jb - would contrast be an issue re: red and black for colourblind users?


Don't know. Can't get it to run in the deuteranope checker. It keeps returning an error.



d a v e -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 12:11:54)

have you tried a screenshot of the site and download the PS plugin from the visicheck site? you can just run it as a filter on the image :) i would but i'm in linux at the mo'.



jaybee -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 13:22:11)

PS? Photoshop? I don't have it.

Does it work with PS Elements?

Oh duh, says it works with PSP. [&:]



jaybee -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 13:32:31)

Coo well blow me down. It works with PSE and PSP.

Interestingly, on the deuteranope setting it is clearer, Comes out a sort of tan colour. Protanope is worse though, a real sludgy brown that was really tough to read.



womble -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 13:35:20)


quote:

also wouldn't visually impaired users be using their own stylesheet


Not necessarily. I suppose it'd depend how IT/web literate they are.



d a v e -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 14:54:55)

yeah just threw that in knowing someone would think the same as me :) but changing the link colours is pretty straightfoward. (in preferences)



Sean Brady -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/12/2005 19:19:05)

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to my ‘Gene Watson Website Tribute’ posting - much appreciated. Here are a few ‘answers/questions’ to some of the comments posted:

(a) I feel that the site looks quite well with a black background – would it be a good idea to change the hyperlink link colour from red to lavender (it was lavender originally)?

(b) The strange blank pop-up window that keeps appearing on the guestbook page is as a result of using Bravenet.com for this service. I can change link text on the bottom of the guestbook (it’s virtually invisible until you hover over it), and may undertake this task at a later stage.

(c) With regard to the comment about the homepage being centre aligned & the other pages being left aligned – should I centre align or left align all pages? Another query: when I viewed my site on a larger screen at work, there was quite a large amount of ‘space’ on the right hand side of the monitor. How do I sort this problem out? Do I use percentages or pixels to sort this out?

(d) The photo of Gene Watson at the top of the page appears as if the top of his head has been chopped off. How do I fade it in at the top rather than the sharp line cutting the very top of his head off?



kevin3442 -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/13/2005 4:04:26)

Hi Sean,

I like it alot. The text size and contrast work well for me... but that's just me. I'd stick with the white hover. It stands out well, and I'm not sure that lavender goes well with traditional country! I agree about left or center, but not both. Personally, I prefer left. It's a judgement call... which do you prefer? Which is easier for you to make? I'm not sure I get your comment about the larger screen at work. Are you saying that there's a big black void to the right within your browser window? If that's the case, any user facing the same thing can simply narrow his or her window. Maybe I missed something there.

One comment I haven't seen: As I browse from page to page, it seems to me that the left margin is different on some pages than on others. The effect, as you browse back, is that the content seems to shift slightly left and right from page to page. Same sort of thing with the red border that surrounds your content (haven't looked... I assume its a table cell). Sometimes theres padding separating the content from the border, and sometimes there's less or none. E.g., on some pages (gwatson_irish_tour.htm), gw.jpg just about touches the border, while on other pages (introduction.htm), it doesn't. A minor annoyance, but consistent spacing would improve the transition from page to page.

A nice job on the whole.

Cheers,

Kevin



anderskorte -> RE: Gene Watson Tribute Website (4/13/2005 4:17:30)

Personally, I'd put more contrast to the links, but as I said I don't think it's that bad. :)

Judge for yourselves, I uploaded a grayscale version.

quote:

ORIGINAL: jaybee

If someone who is colourblind doesn't have enough contrast they won't see the text at all so they'll only find the white contrast by accident. When was the last time you ran your mouse across an entire page just in case there was a hidden link?

jay you know pretty well I didn't mean that. :)

quote:

also wouldn't visually impaired users be using their own stylesheet

Can't count on it.



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