Vertical Scrolling?

[MadMango]

I know everyone hates horizontal scrolling, and I agree with this 100%: avoid it at all costs.

I wonder though, how much vertical scrolling is acceptable in a text/information heavy page? Is there some sort of rule of thumb, like no more than 2x the display height? Is it better to break pages so they contain no more text than a single display page?

Also, I'm using Verdana (font size 2) as the default text setting. On heavy text-based pages, should the text be larger?

My personal feelings are that I would rather simply scroll down a page to read, rather than clicking some link/button to take me to another page. I also find small (4-6 lines) paragraphs to be easrier to read than traditional length paragraphs. Thoughts on this?

 

[BHaines]

The only page I really don't care to scroll on is the top page of a website. On that main page I want a snapshot of your site that shows me what it's about and lets me navigate to areas I want deeper info from. I want your site at a glance on that main page though. Subpages, where I choose to specifically go via navigation, I have no issues with when it comes to scrolling. If I'm looking for info specifically, I would rather have that all on one page, instead of having to keep moving to other pages (especially if opening pages on a site invokes pop-ups).

 

[vickero007]

I agree with BHaines that scrolling is fine as long as it isn't the home page. Especially since every mouse I use wherever I am has the wheel scrolling is easier than moving to click a link! That font size does seem small but I would have to see it to know for sure.

-Volkoff007

 

[MadMango]

I believe these forums use Verdana, font 2.

Thanks for the input folks.