Here’s a long-running discussion in the studio – what to do about ‘the fold’ in web design?
This is one of the best posts I’ve read on the subject:
http://www.clockwork.net/blog/2010/01/08/372/how_to_discuss_the_fold_with_a_client
My two pennyworth? I think it’s misleading to show a client a design targeted to a 1024×768 monitor resolution with the fold shown, as the percentage of the audience that this will apply to is tiny, when factors such as browser variation, toolbars and operating systems are factored in. Plus the assumption that the browser is always fully expanded: while the plural of anecdote may not be data, I see plenty of people at work and home with a browser not fully sized.
All that’s before we even get onto mobile devices. How many different resolutions are we going to be seeing in the near future? Lots, and like Safari on the iPhone, some intuitive ways of browsing pages using zooming.
So is that it? Of course not. The page fold may be impossible to locate, but it’s still important to have good design and a strong information hierarchy that leads the eye down the page.
And of course: trust your audience to scroll. They’re as switched on as you or I.