Question

When creating a web-site design, is the only real option to provide a fixed content width?

I notice most major websites (this one included) center all the content into a fixed width, which ensures all elements look correct on all screen sizes.

I think I already know the answer to this, but a colleague seems to think that there should never be a horizontal scrollbar and a website should resize to the users screen width. I make the argument that text can resize but other elements can’t (buttons, textboxes etc), so a fixed width is the only option.

I’d love your opinions each way.

Surely fixed width is the only way you can guarantee the correct layout on ALL browsers?

Answer 1

You can get clever with floats/media queries to make layouts work well at narrower widths.

But it is indeed more common to go with a fixed width:

• It’s easier to design
• Not many people have narrow monitors these days — most websites seem to assume they’ve got 1000 pixels of horizontal space to work with, and I haven’t heard of them getting many complaints
• Touch-based OSs (iOS, Android et. al) make zooming web pages feel very natural, so pixel dimensions aren’t quite as important there.
• When lines of content get too wide (I think more than around 60 words?), they get difficult to read, so there’s not much advantage to be gained from having elements expand to full width for users who have bigger browser windows.

I think the most likely group of users to have less horizontal space available is smartphone users, and you’re going to want a specific design for them if you care that much about their experience.

Oh, just one thing though: “Surely fixed width is the only way you can guarantee the correct layout on ALL browsers?” With the greatest possible respect, that’s a bit of a programmer’s way to think about it. You can’t guarantee anything about web page rendering. Browsers and operating systems can do whatever they want. That’s the web. Let it go.