Friday, May 15, 2009

Annoyance

I need to take the opportunity to use this forum to gripe about folks, especially Pagans, who use black or dark backgrounds. I cannot read them. Jason Pitzl-Waters turned me on to a little thingy that you can download with which you can eliminate the black ground. But I just have to say that when I encounter them, they are a big turnoff and unless I really, really, really want to know what the person is saying, I just navigate from that page straightaway. They are proven harder to read.

While I'm at it, what's with this itty bitty typeface I find on so many websites? It's friggin' microscopic. I have to click the "make text bigger" feature two, sometimes three, times before I can read them.

Now I know that my eyesight isn't as sharp as it was when I was younger. I wear specs to compensate for that.

An don't get me going on those MySpace pages that are so full of clutter and cutsy that they're basically unreadable. I've abandoned MySpace in favor of FaceBook for that kind of time-sucker. (I confess I do avoid work by messing around on FB.)

I know I speak for many of my friends and colleagues when I say that we aging Pagans would appreciate it if people who'd like us to visit their sites would kindly make them more easily readable.

There! Now I feel better.

7 comments:

Deborah said...

Pretty much, I don't visit sites anymore. I just add them to my RSS feed. That way, I don't have to remember to visit; they come to me, and it's all plain text on a white background.

I click through only to comment.

Carol Maltby said...

What's the link for the application to give websites white backgrounds?

Beth Owl's Daughter said...

While my blog is okay (I think!), you are right and I'm guilty as charged on my website. But I am working on a more reader-friendly upgrade.

So thanks for the extra motivation, Macha!
- Beth Owl's Daughter

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, can I add to your gripe?

Dark backgrounds are a pain to read, but I do have that bookmarklet that changes the background to white. (I shall post it on my website Carol, so that you can get it.)

While I'm griping, I must say just how horrible MySpace and LiveJournal are too. Badly laid out. Too cluttered. Yuck. :-D

As far as RSS feeds go, I have a ton of blogs subscribed. The first criteria I use to determine if I should unsubscribe is whether the blog owner offers the full post in the feed, or just a teaser intro. If they only offer a teaser, they are the first to go. :(

Alan Joel said...

Hear hear! I have difficulty reading dark backgrounds as well, even if dark backgrounds make some websites seem more "magical"! If people can read what you write, no magic happens!

mab said...

it has the capacicity to turn one into a grumpy old hag (at 49 never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!i am ashamed to admit i am nearly pc illiterate apart from emailing ,those facebooky things just leave me confused...i cant believe i have just registered to do this,driving force being to register the beauty and use i have found in "The pagan book of living and dying ",black on white it being abook!tho didnt need reading glasses when i got my copy back in 2002.

mab said...

i am somewhat computer illiterate as regards anything other than e mailing and reading excellent blogs like yours, a solitary in the north of scotland(tho surrounded by witchety type friends)i often search the net to find like minded souls only to be confounded by facebooky typey things that are too complicated to use or that you cant bloody read,turning into grumpy old hag at e tender age o 49.when actually i am nothing o e sort.obviously!!!!!!