General

One problem with designing a web site is that different visitors use different browsers and display the results on different sized screens with different desktop settings. One size does not fit all. Another problem is that whatever the theoretical speed of the communication link you are using if you are in another country or continent then the communication speed you experience may be slow. I have tried to address both these issues without compromising the quality of what is on display.

Image Sizes

Every picture can be displayed in two sizes. The smaller pictures which are hung in the exhibitions should look OK when displayed at 800x600 pixels, or larger. The larger versions are designed for 1024x768 but will sometimes look OK at smaller desktop settings with a scroll bar or two.

You may find that your browser, or Internet service provider, has added a lot of clutter around what you want to see. Switch your browser to full screen mode and if you are stuck in a frame, click here to get out of it.

Colour

It is amazing the difference which your monitor's brightness, contrast and colour balance settings can make to the appearance of the images. I normally stick to manufacturers' standard settings when creating the site on the grounds that most people will be using those settings too.

If possible set your monitor to display in true colour (24 bits) for the best colour rendering.

Browsers

This web site has been checked using recent versions of the 3 main browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer. I  have tried to build a site which will display equally well on any of them. Sadly, however, they do not always produce identical results especially with Java applets. At the time of publishing, Mozilla Firefox was the most reliable when running applets.

This site is deliberately low-tech; I have avoided non-standard formats and plug-ins. I use Java for animation and interactivity so you do need Java enabled on your browser to use some parts of this site.

Download Speed

The images are compressed using JPEG and PNG or GIF compression which give a reasonably good image on the screen without taking forever to download. Bear in mind though that inevitably some quality is lost in the process.