Screen Resolution Alert for eLearning Developers!

Statcounter Global Stats reported last week that 1024x768(XGA) has been overtaken by 1366x768(WXGA) for the first time. If these numbers make no sense to you then think of it in terms of aspect ratios.  What the report basically says is that the 16:9 aspect ratio has become more popular than 4:3. Think of it as old TV beginning to die out slowly and the newer HDTV growing.

If you are an eLearning developer this is important news. But if you are an eLearning developer this should not be NEW for you.  And, in fact, this may not even impact you.

Let this ALERT serve as a reminder for those who consider themselves eLearning developers but don't know the standard screen resolution supported by your IT department.


I would guess that many of you are not seeing this change within your organizations.  The data is based on global internet usage in general and if you track usage stats for your web sites behind your firewall you should be able to see for yourself.  Or ask your IT department for the report.

3 Reminders to every Corporate Training Department


1) Be connected to your IT department.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  If you are developing anything with software being delivered to your organization digitally, then you MUST have a solid partnership with your IT department.

2) TEST, TEST, TEST!  Always test your eLearning courses on as many different screen resolutions as possible, and on as many devices as possible.

3) Don't forget about the big screen! With the industry chasing down mobile learning at such a rapid pace it's easy to forget about the desktop.  This alert is your wakeup call.  Remember that your corporate audience is STILL most comfortable viewing your courses on a desktop with a high resolution monitor.  Make sure your content looks beautiful in that space.

And if you really want to dig deeper you can check wikipedia for everything you ever wanted to know about Graphic Display Resolutions.