Those of you that are fans of John Lloyd and Stephen Fry will be familiar with QI and the concept of “General Ignorance”. General ignorance is the round in which common questions seem so obvious, we repeat the answers in an almost parrot like fashion. More often that not the answers we believe to be true are simply urban myth and totally unfounded or incorrect.
Example: In the 7th episode of series G, Fry asked the question “How many men have been President of the United States?” and showed a clip of US President Barack Obama declaring himself the 44th person to have taken the oath. This is incorrect since Grover Cleveland was elected to two non-consecutive terms, meaning only 43 people have taken the oath.
We often espouse something we think to be true but have never really bothered to find out for ourselves. It’s easily done and I expect we are all guilty of it.
“You accidentally swallow about eight spiders a year in your sleep”
“Plasma TV’s need to be re-gassed or re-charged periodically”
“Sugary food makes young children hyper”
And who can argue with my personal favourite;
“Wagon Wheels were much bigger when we were kids”
What’s all this got to do with technology or web design I hear you cry? Well, allow me to explain.
How many times have you been asked or heard the following?
“Make the page a bit shorter”
“Avoid scrolling at all costs”
“Ahh, but your content isn’t above the fold”
If you’ve ever heard any of those, do two things…
Firsty, staple a Wagon Wheel to their forehead, to facilitate a closer look.
(Original with the jam bit in it, not the toffee or caramel “Johnny come lately”)
Secondly, explain this is the year 2011 and websites are not just viewed in 800×600
Let’s get a definition of “Above the Fold” by seeing what Wikipedia say;
“Above the fold” is a graphic design concept that refers to the location of an important news story or a visually appealing photograph on the upper half of the front page of a newspaper, or in case of webpages, the part of a page that’s visible without scrolling. Most papers are delivered and displayed to customers folded up, meaning that only the top half of the front page is visible. Thus, an item that is “above the fold” may be one that the editors feel will entice people to buy the paper.
This term has been extended and used in web development to refer the portions of a webpage that can be visible without scrolling. However, some have suggested that this term is vague as screen sizes vary greatly between users, especially in an era where websites are viewed with mobile devices as much as home computers.
On a more serious note, re-educate the person who raises the “Above the Fold” view and explain why it’s an outdated concept. I can find no more elegant a way of doing this, than by pointing them here;
A great article called Life Below 600px by Paddy Donnelly.
I’ll leave you with this thought. Wagon Wheels have supposedly shrunk in size as time has progressed. Burton’s Foods Ltd have denied this, instead suggest that the supposed shrinkage is due to an adult’s childhood memory of eating a Wagon Wheel held in a much smaller hand.
Challenge common misconception, biscuit related or not.
