Peer Institutions:
Home Page Screen Resolutions
A review of peer institution screen resolutions for their
home pages was conducted on 4 April 2002. Recent
statistics show the use of 640 x 480 pixel screen resolutions
has dropped below 5 percent. This number continues to decrease
as older computers are phased out and replaced. Many of the
Web's most highly-trafficked sites now utilize a home page
design (and many an entire site design) based on a minimum
800 x 600 pixel screen resolution.
For this review, I measured the width of the content area
on the home page in pixels using screen capture software.
The numbers represent the content area only (design and navigation)
and do NOT include browser elements such as borders and scroll
bars. In other words, this is the design area being used regardless
of browser type or operating system.
Width was determined by narrowing the browser window as much
as possible without requiring horizontal scrolling and then
rounded up to the nearest multiple of 10 pixels. Height is
determined by length on page to capture bottom-most main navigational
item (‡ - exceeds 850 pixels - scrolling necessary).
On the Windows operating system using Internet Explorer (the
vast majority of users), the available design area with the
browser window maximized on a 640 x 480 screen is 612 pixels
wide (640 minus the width of the browser window borders and
scroll bar). Therefore, any sites exceeding 612 pixels in
width require an 800 x 600 screen to view entirely without
horizontal scrolling.
Out of 53 peer institutions:
- 17 of the home pages fit entirely within 612 pixels width
- 36 of the home pages are wider than the available 612
pixels
- Out of those 36, 19 exceed 640 pixels in the content area,
indicating they are clearly designed for a minimum 800 x
600 screen
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