Organizations must think about how their shapes, such as a social media icon, will display on a website for a variety of reasons. For example, a shape may look good from a distance but if someone zooms in on it, they may discover that the object has pixels or jagged edges. When this occurs, the icon is rasterized and does not have a high-quality appearance (“Kendra. 2013.”).
This situation is problematic for enterprises because they can lose a high number of website visitors if those people discover that one or more images are low quality. Simon Kemp of “We Are Social” pointed out that the number of people worldwide who used different devices to access the internet was 3 billion during November 2014 (“January 21 2015.”). As a result, organizations need to think about how their icons display on different mobile devices. A shape like a telephone may show up effectively on a desktop but not on an Android device. This also holds true if someone with a disability is using a screen reader (“Zach. 1/13/2014.”).
One resource for icons is FontAwesome. There are over 500 icons available, including social media icons (Facebook, Twitter), video play shapes, and payment method icons. FontAwesome also offers icons for form controls, web applications, and transportation. For example, a business could use a building icon to show its location on a map. Currency icons like US Dollars or Euros can display pricing information (“FontAwesome 4.3.0. Date Unknown.”).
FontAwesome icons benefit organizations in many ways. FontAwesome icons are vector shapes, meaning they can be resized without losing quality, unlike raster images that become pixelated (“Kendra. 2013.”). They are free to use, even for commercial purposes, and are accessible for screen readers (“Gandy. Copyright Date Unknown.”). This contrasts with other icon fonts that may not display well on assistive devices (“Zach. 1/14/2014.”).
As a company that builds websites, Solutions Resource must be aware of the icon fonts organizations use. This ensures icons display effectively across devices and screen sizes. Poorly displayed icons can cause visitors to leave a site, damaging reputation and client trust. Therefore, Solutions Resource researches technologies for displaying icons to ensure quality and accessibility. Organizations interested in Solutions Resource’s services can contact info@solutionsresource.com to learn more about web design and development services.
References
“The Icons The Complete Set of 519 Icons In Font Awesome 4.3.0” by FontAwesome 4.3.0. Retrieved June 26, 2015. http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/#directional
“Adobe PhotoShop CC The Professional Portfolio”. Kendra Erika. 2013. Against The Clock, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-936201-23-5.
“Font Awesome The Iconic Font and CSS Toolkit” by Dave Gandy. Retrieved May 23, 2015. http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/
“Bulletproof Accessible Icon Fonts” by Zach. Filament Group, Inc. 1/13/2014. Retrieved June 26, 2015. https://www.filamentgroup.com/lab/bulletproof_icon_fonts.html
“Digital, Social & Mobile Worldwide in 2015” by Simon Kemp. 21 January 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015. http://wearesocial.net/blog/2015/01/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015/
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