Adaptive font sizes for network browsing
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorJakob Nielsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
When retrieving documents over a network, such as the Internet, the font size imposed by default or by a style sheet is sometimes not the right size for comfortable viewing by a user. A database of font size changes made by a user to particular documents is maintained and used to infer a font size preference for a document. A document is displayed using a recorded preference. If no preference is found for a document, a check is made to determine if a preference has been specified for a different document related to that document by having a common portion of a network address. That is, if a preference had been specified for one chapter of a document having a particular network address, a preference would be inferred for other chapters of the document based on a common portion of a hierarchical address.
Claims9
An apparatus for displaying documents retrieved over a network, comprising:
- a network interface;
- and
- a computer connected to said network interface, said computer storing information associated with font size preferences for a user of said computer and using the information to display documents retrieved via the network interface in a font size specified for a document or for a class of documents of which said document is a member, said class of documents determined by network address.
A method for determining font size preferences for display of documents retrieved over a network comprising the steps of:
- a. storing, in a database coupled to the network, information reflecting at least one font size change associated with a first document;
- b. determining a font size preference for at least a second document via the stored information in response to a user accessing said second document;
- and
- c. displaying said second document using the font size preference.
A method for determining font size preferences comprising the steps of:
- storing information about at least one font size change performed by a user and a document to which said change relates;
- and
- determining font size preference for related documents based on said information,
- wherein said font size preference is set by presenting the user with an option to store a font size preference when the user performs the at least one font size change.
A method for determining font size preferences for display of documents, retrieved over a network, comprising the steps of:
- a. storing, in a database coupled to the network, information about at least one font size change and a first document to which said change relates;
- and
- b. determining font size preference for a second document retrieved over the network using the information relating to the first document, wherein the first document is associated with the retrieved document via an identifier.
A method of displaying a document, comprising the steps of:
- a. checking a database of font size preferences to determine if a size preference is stored for said document;
- b. if a font size preference is not found for said document, checking a database for a font size preference for a different document sharing a common portion of a network address with said document;
- and
- c. displaying said document with a font size preference found in one of the preceding steps.
A computer program product comprising:
- a. a memory medium;
- and
- b. a computer program stored on said memory medium, said computer program comprising instructions for storing information about at least one font size change and a document to which said change relates and determining font size preference for a retrieved document based on information stored for a class of documents of which the retrieved document is a member, said class being determined by a network address.
A computer program product comprising:
- a. a memory medium;
- and
- b. a computer program stored on said memory medium;
- said computer program comprising instructions for:
- searching a first database to determine whether a font size preference is stored for a first document, and
- when the font size preference is not stored for the first document, searching a second database for a font size preference for a second document associated with the first document and displaying the first document with the font size preference for the second document.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.