Published on 12, July, 2020
"Autism friendly"? No, I don't think so. The original format worked and was a logical set up that was easy to use, this new format is a total illogical mess. The number of posts on this forum and the number of users making them were already in decline. I think this new layout will simply hasten that process. I for one won't be using or visiting this site in future. In fact as soon as I post this I'm going to close my account here.
I'm getting used to it - the old software just did not work on my windows phone and it clearly had a number of other issues and limitations. I have just found the buttons which allow you to see the Newest posts on top - this should be the default option in my opinion!
Can I make another plea for the banners (logos, my account, search, breadcrumb strip etc) at the top of the page to be trimmed down. I'm using firefox on a windows 10 laptop with a screen that only has 750 pixels or so heigth. The banner area just take up far too much space. They also make it very clear, to anyone that is glancing at my laptop, that I am on the NAS website. Can this be reduced in size and prominence so that one can see more of the forum content? Can it be made to scroll away as you scroll down the content.
Just to help explain what I meant about how much space is taken with banners etc. This is a screen shot of my whole screen! I have got firefox in full screen mode to give me a bit more space but the white and purple strips are just taking up too much space. We are here to look at the content rather than to look at the NAS logo or to be badgered with the Donate button - I'm already a paid up member! The white space around the search box does not achieve anything. The purple bar could include the search box and it could be narrower.
Yes, understood on screen space. As I think you are suggesting, it does depend on the screen that you are using, because of the responsive (mobile-friendly) design. For example, on a phone in portrait mode, you're probably seeing the top bar/strip scroll off-screen completely, with the rest of the page. Many desktop screens have more height that the 750 pixels you're describing; the bar is not such an issue on my current (1080 high) screen. As I mentioned, layout on mobile was the principle area of feedback when we did pre-launch user testing, so we made some changes then.
As in my previous post above, please allow us a little time to look at this and see whether adjustments can be made. It is on a list of post-launch work. However, I would expect that any change would take a few weeks to put in place.