Firefox’s persistent zoom?
Simple accessibility enhancements keep on coming: well done, Mozilla.
I’ve just discovered that Firefox’s zoom feature, both in full-page and text-only mode, maintains some kind of history, even between sessions. To clarify: if I zoom a page’s text up, close the browser, then return to that site later, the text is displayed at that previous setting.
It’s a simple feature, one so simple that I’m not even sure how long it’s been around; I’m using Firefox 3.0.8. But it’s small enhancements like this that are really going to improve web accessibility, and web design in general, as a result.
I don’t think this is the end of the story, by any means, but it’s encouraging to see that small, much wished-for changes are taking place. Maybe minimum font-size scaling will be next.
Comments
Stephanie said:
Hah, I too had the same problem with a client. I’m not even sure I really like the zoom in my mozilla browser. I can only really tell if I am at the right zoom unless the image is un-blurred by an out-zoom. Although I did figure it to be actually really annoying on my laptop as well, it is constantly zooming in and out when I move my mouse around as my other hand sticks by its side to tap the button, it is always flustering me.
But this is all just my opinion :)
Sat 28 Nov 2009 07:26
zeldman said:
Safari 4 does the same thing.
In fact, a designer friend had a problem with a client who inadvertently triggered Page Zoom and never un-triggered it. The client kept insisting that certain page layout elements didn’t fit in an 800 x 600 window. The designer, quite rightly, replied that the elements did fit.
The designer wasn’t able to visit the client’s office, discover the problem, and reset the client’s browser to the default view. In the end, the designer had to change the site design to make it work in a Page-zoomed view trapped in a small window.
The persistence of Page Zoom is generally an excellent thing, but like all features that rely on user discovery (because browsers don’t came with a manual, and even if they did, no one would read it), it can create problems in edge cases.
(I had similar moments of panic and confusion when I first accidentally encountered screen zoom in OS X.)