Should a large company worry about Browser Zoom

Question

After designing a large site with multiple forms (And launching last night) My QA team came to me with a very intriguing question.

They showed me a "bug" where, when a user zooms out (not in) some of the larger form fields get out of place, drastically. If a user zooms IN, then there is no issue, everything just gets larger as expected.

Here's my question: Should I worry about these forms messing up at smaller than 100%? Do users zoom OUT on a webpage? and is it something I should be concerned about?

Answer 1

That's a question that is specific to your use case and why you have the problem that you do.

First, there is the question of if your users have a reason to use zoom as a rule. I know it's not one of the normal "checklist" things to account for, so unless your users have a specific reason that this is likely, it's probably a low priority to address.

Second, other than not looking "right", does it cause a functional problem on the page. Certainly, if you were starting the project, I'd say you should address it if it isn't time-prohibitive. However, at this stage, there's the question of how big of a priority it should be and unless it has a real impact on using the site, that might be low.

Lastly, though very importantly, why is it doing that? Is it an odd artifact with zoom or is it a problem with how your page's DOM is organized. If some components of your application are constrained differently than others, you might have a problem that becomes much more impactful as resolution and device norms change over the next few years. This would significantly raise the importance of addressing it sooner rather than later.

Answer 2

Yes, of course. Your page shouldn't break in functionality due to built in browser preferences being changed.

If your page breaks when people use the zoom feature in the browser, then your site was coded very poorly.

Browser zoom is really important for accessibility reasons. Mom and Dad don't have the eyesight they once had. It's also useful for everyone else, as sometimes we just want to zoom in or out for whatever reason. And, of course, mobile, where it's a necessity.

EDIT:

Apologies, I read too quickly! On second read, I realize the bug is only if you zoom 'out'. That does change things, and I'd probably let that go. Zooming out is far less critical that accommodating zooming in. This particular problem could even be limited to a specific browser.

Answer 3

Would you trust a new car, that you just paid $50,000 USD to get, just to accidentally find out that the head light goes on if you put the gear in reverse and hit the left flashers? I'd immediately think "What else is wrong?"

This is about trust from your users and your customers. If the customer finds something that is unexpected and looks like a bug, you solve it. It's very bad business to deliver poor implementations, and you are unlikely to get the next order from that company, unless you fix this issue. No matter the perceived tiny damage the bug has. In business and in applications, trust is all that matters.