Some comments on the Page Design.

The appearance of the pages of www.Uelsen-und-Umgebung.de is admittedly not 'cool' but rather plain. There are no frames, no animated images and no plug-ins. While designing the pages, we tried to keep ourselves at least to the most important rules of web-design:

1. Web pages should not be designed for a particular browser, a particular resolution or even for a particular operating system.
2. Web pages should be readable for people with impaired vision (bad eyesight, colour weakness) too.
3. The loading time of a page should be moderate.

Because of rule 1 we refrained from special effects (plug-ins like Flash, for instance) which might be available on particular operating systems only. We believe that this kind of effects is not essential at the current stage, although 'cool things' could be done with them. Apart from that, we try to create the pages to be flexible (rubberband layout). That is, the pages should retain their layout independent of the actual resolution and the chosen font/size. Even with a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixel (X-Windows on Linux as an example) there should be no blank areas.

With a view of rule 2 we do not nail down the type of font, the font color or the font size (that is, we do not use <font> tags). We also abandon image-buttons. The pages are being displayed with the actual font of your browser. The font size can be changed as follows:

• Internet-Explorer (IE): [We do not have an english version of the IE]. If you have a mouse with scroll wheel, the font size can be changed 'on the fly' by pressing Ctrl and simultaneously turning the wheel.

• Netscape Communicator: Via Edit, Preferences, Apperance, Fonts. A faster way is pressing Ctrl-+ and Ctrl--. Unfortunately this does not work on Linux.

• Mozilla: Menue View, Text Zoom. The faster way is: Ctrl-+ (Ctrl + Plus) and Ctrl-- (Ctrl + Minus).

• Opera: [We do not have an english version]. Like with the Internet-Explorer, the font size can be adjusted by pressing Ctrl and turning the mouse wheel.

• Lynx: Lynx is character based. When running in an xterm, the size of the characters can be changed like this: take the mouse somewhere on the xterm, press CTRL and right mouse button. A xterm menu will appear. Select the character size, like 'Huge' for example.

We have desisted half-heartedly from using frames. On one hand it is nerve-racking when the browser space is being divided. It is limited anyway. On the other hand some kind of 'permanent' menu on the left side has its advantages. The truth is: we just don't know which way is better. So we decided for an upright version: plain HTML without frames and gadgets. The reader may have to scroll somewhat more than with framed versions, but the back-button of the browser is not that far away. As soon as the header or footer becomes visible, you are saved.

A shorte note on rule 2. Surely one has to weigh up between absolute plainness (matter-of-factness) and a colored and informative livening up through included images. We try to find the golden mean. The photo collection 'Photos' is an exception, of course. Here you may have to show some patience when using a modem. Apart from that we hope that the loading times are moderate. We like to have some reporting back, also of technical sort.

The pages have been tested with the following browsers: Microsoft Internet-Explorer 5.0 (Windows), Netscape Communicator 4.7 (Windows and Linux), Mozilla 1.4, Opera 3.6 (Windows) and Lynx (Linux). The pages should in fact be viewable with any browser according to the HTML 4.0 standard. Since July, 2005, we also use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

We support the campaign of www.anybrowser.org.

Created: Aug 15, 2000, last modification: Jul 12, 2005   www.Uelsen-und-Umgebung.de