[dba-VS] Visual Basic 2012 - Change Form & Controls Based On Screen Resolution

[Jim Lawrence]

Hi Arthur:

I think all new applications have to be able to run on multiple platforms, be gesture sensitive and be able to adapt to multiple screen sizes and resolutions.

When I was working full-time, on web development, I would always charged extra if the client wanted the application to be IE compatible as such compatibility could double UI development times. 

Just ask the clients if the want certain features, at the beginning of a project and just charge appropriately...as always, client's hate surprise out-of-scope add-ins during a contract. 

Jim  

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arthur Fuller" <fuller.artful at gmail.com>
To: "Development in Visual Studio" <dba-vs at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 4, 2015 9:19:09 AM
Subject: Re: [dba-VS] Visual Basic 2012 - Change Form & Controls Based On Screen Resolution

I find this an interesting discussion because it involves several somewhat sensitive subjects. Obviously no sensible corporation or branch of government would mandate a screen resolution. On the other hand, how is the developer to cope with this? 

One approach is to code for the minimal resolution, and perhaps to add code that detects higher resolutions. 

That approach has extended into the world of smart-phones and tablets; and one response to this problem has been "responsive apps", which auto-detect the platform's capabilities (touch-aware or just mouse and keyboard), and change their behaviour and screen layout to suit the instance. 

It extends further: suppose the user is blind and needs audio-assistance. Do we build that into the UI? I guess that depends on the size of the potential user base. Maybe if the client is a large state/province/canton/principality, then it may make sense to include this in the budget, but for your average Mon 'n' Pop it may be overkill. 

I confess that in my ~30 years of app-development, this has never come up. But a couple of sort-of related episodes did, and these involved users suffering from cerebral palsy. This resulted in a radically retuned approach to user-training, and also serious UI changes to make every command available without serious contortions as pressing three keys at once (Ctrl-Shift-Insert, for example). 

I have painted the landscape for this question, which I do truly regard as serious, and I wish to inquire a) whether you've faced this problem; b) how you negotiated the extra costs, and c) how you dealt with the problem and delivered a workable solution. Oh yes, maybe there's a d) assuming c), in which you dealt with the situation and delivered a successful solution, did this increase your creds in these environments (i.e. word got around that your firm could handle this stuff)? 

Just curious. 
Arthur 
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