For years I have tried to use em-based layouts where I can (or %, depending on what is appropriate), rather than fixed layouts. Many fear it is hard, and sometimes there are rounding type issues and other small problems that occur, but generally it has been okay.

I have often wished other sites would use this for their readers too (sometimes I find it easier to read a site when I am just tired — usability, not just accessibility).

But, it may become a moot issue in a few short years as most major browsers move towards page zooming themselves. E.g. Opera (had it for ages), IE7 introduced it (though it seems a bit buggy) and Firefox has introduced it in version 3 (seems quite good).

They all zoom the whole page (i.e. including images) though IE 7 has acknowledged mixed results. Smaller images, e.g. icons can become pixelated though, while other images seem to zoom well.

Anyway, it may make em-based layout less of an important technique, once IE6 and Firefox 2 become less significant. Oh well, we move on

I think a lot of ‘accessible’ web sites with fixed width are missing the opportunity of creating a zoom layout.

Once again, nice one Anup.