a) looks like a reasonable simulation of Tufte's print style
b) is missing the point Tufte tries to make
Tufte isn't saying you have to make your presentation look like his, his basic thesis is "don't add unnecessary things that take away from the clarity of your presentation" and he's made a name by critically analyzing other people's presentation and work to show where they've gone overboard and why that detracts from the message they're trying to show.
I've sat in his class, read his books and website and followed him for years. His approach and critical analysis of web sites is actually fairly different from print. He understands that the web is a different medium and should be approached differently. His critiques of ESPN and various weather websites are fascinating not because he complains they aren't using enough whitespace or don't follow his print style, but because he actually likes how they clearly and concisely present summaries of dense, compact information.
I'm afraid this comes off a little like cargo-culting Tufte, going through the ceremony without actually grokking his meaning.
While I recognize that any mimicry of Tufte's print approach in CSS is going to come across as prescriptivism, that was not the point. Tufte CSS was a toy project that seemed worth sharing. It turns out, figuring out which of his methods translate from print to the web is not straightforward. It's an exercise. That process of implementing sidenotes (for instance), and thinking about what they mean in the modern web, is valuable. Sidenotes are but one technique, like data-"ink" ratios and minimal use of hierarchical headings are merely guiding ideas. My goal with Tufte CSS was not to say "this is how websites should look" but rather "here are some techniques we've found useful elsewhere; maybe you'll find them useful on the web" and "here is a sketch of implementing this set of ideas".
While I do think Tufte CSS could be a good starting point for a variety of webpages that want to communicate a point using text, tabular data, figures, and code, I don't think that websites should see Tufte CSS, or Tufte's print projects in general, as a design goal. Different projects, in whatever media, should present their information as best suits their particular circumstances.
Anyway, I apologize for giving the impression of cargo-culting. If there's any way I can change the wording in either the README or the demo doc to better reflect that this is not a design prescription, please let me know.
Yes, the first thing I've thought looking at the page on the computer was "I wonder how that looks on my iPhone." I've tried: not easily readable, for me.
Again, this statement just seems like cargo culting when taken as a rule.
The reason san-serifs were better on screen is that screens used to have lower DPI's, and thus can't actually show the serifs as well as on paper.
In the old days of CRT's and 72 dpi screens, the serifs would be distorted because the display can't show details fine enough. In those cases, san-serifs get you around the problem of low dpi screens.
Nowadays, with retina and high dpi displays, serif fonts can look as good as in print.
Just be aware of why these guidelines exist. It's not always a firm "it has to be this way" hard rules.
I actually like serif fonts on retina screens. The first "reader view" on the iPhone was serif and it was easy to read.
On the linked page the resulting size of the letters on the page is simply too small to allow easy reading. When the area to display text is so small, the designer shouldn't insist on the white margins or the comments on the side. On web page, the comments could be much better done in the "Wikipedia" style (showing on click). The design of the Wikipedia articles on the moment is actually good on iPhone. Much better than this, very natural to read.
a) looks like a reasonable simulation of Tufte's print style
b) is missing the point Tufte tries to make
Tufte isn't saying you have to make your presentation look like his, his basic thesis is "don't add unnecessary things that take away from the clarity of your presentation" and he's made a name by critically analyzing other people's presentation and work to show where they've gone overboard and why that detracts from the message they're trying to show.
I've sat in his class, read his books and website and followed him for years. His approach and critical analysis of web sites is actually fairly different from print. He understands that the web is a different medium and should be approached differently. His critiques of ESPN and various weather websites are fascinating not because he complains they aren't using enough whitespace or don't follow his print style, but because he actually likes how they clearly and concisely present summaries of dense, compact information.
I'm afraid this comes off a little like cargo-culting Tufte, going through the ceremony without actually grokking his meaning.