[css-d] A font sizing question - with apologies in advance!
Hello Group, We just launched a redesign on a heavily visited site, our CSS developer is out of the country, and a problem with font sizes has surfaced that I don't know how to answer. I'm hoping to get some help here. A number of customers and a couple of employees are reporting that the fonts are too small and difficult to read. I created a sample page here that pretty much mirrors some of the basic font-size CSS found on the site: http://test.hinshawdesign.com/css/ccy-font-size.html Our assumption when sizing the fonts was that browsers would be set to the default font size (16px?), unless the user had consciously made a change, in which case they could alter that size if our fonts did not suit their needs. But in talking to some of the people who complained, it came to light that their default font size was set to 12px and they had no idea how to change it. So my question is this. I assume that we could make a temporary fix by changing the font-size on the body tag to 16px at the expense of IE users (correct?), but is there a more long-term fix that would avoid the tiny unreadable text, but not force us to show most users large ugly type that is out of proportion with the design elements of the site? Thanks for any thoughts on this...needless to say it's very unnerving to have these issues pop up at this late date when the author of the CSS is unavailable. Don Hinshaw __ css-discuss [cs...@lists.css-discuss.org] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
Re: [css-d] A font sizing question - with apologies in advance!
Don Hinshaw wrote:
Thanks for any thoughts on this...needless to say it's very unnerving to
have these issues pop up at this late date when the author of the CSS is
unavailable.
Don Hinshaw
body {
font: /*101%*/100% Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
h1 { font-size: /*.875em*/120%; }
h2 { font-size: /*.8125em*/110%; color: #c00;}
p { font-size: /*.6875em*/100%; }
p.larger {font-size: /*.75em*/100%;}
--
A thin red line and a salmon-color ampersand forthcoming.
http://chelseacreekstudio.com/
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Re: [css-d] A font sizing question - with apologies in advance!
David Laakso wrote:
Don Hinshaw wrote:
Thanks for any thoughts on this...needless to say it's very unnerving
to have these issues pop up at this late date when the author of the
CSS is unavailable.
Don Hinshaw
body {
font: /*101%*/100% Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
h1 { font-size: /*.875em*/120%; }
h2 { font-size: /*.8125em*/110%; color: #c00;}
p { font-size: /*.6875em*/100%; }
p.larger {font-size: /*.75em*/100%;}
Thanks for the response. I'm not quite sure how this helps. Yes, it
cures the tiny font problem, but it creates another situation we want to
avoid: Gigantic fonts at the default size of 16px.
Everything I've read seems to point to pixels being the only way to
retain any control over the situation. True?
Don
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Re: [css-d] A font sizing question - with apologies in advance!
Don Hinshaw wrote: . Everything I've read seems to point to pixels being the only way to retain any control over the situation. True? Don No. -- A thin red line and a salmon-color ampersand forthcoming. http://chelseacreekstudio.com/ __ css-discuss [cs...@lists.css-discuss.org] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
Re: [css-d] A font sizing question - with apologies in advance!
On 2009/01/10 18:12 (GMT-0800) Don Hinshaw composed:
David Laakso wrote:
Don Hinshaw wrote:
Thanks for any thoughts on this...needless to say it's very unnerving
to have these issues pop up at this late date when the author of the
CSS is unavailable.
Don Hinshaw
body {
font: /*101%*/100% Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}
h1 { font-size: /*.875em*/120%; }
h2 { font-size: /*.8125em*/110%; color: #c00;}
p { font-size: /*.6875em*/100%; }
p.larger {font-size: /*.75em*/100%;}
Thanks for the response. I'm not quite sure how this helps. Yes, it
cures the tiny font problem, but it creates another situation we want to
avoid: Gigantic fonts at the default size of 16px.
Any time the CSS above provided by David results in unwanted gigantic
fonts, it results from the user's computer being misconfigured. Your
original .6875em is mousetype on all my puters. On all my computers, David's
body and p CSS would result in perfectly sized fonts that vary in size
between 20px and 32px, depending on display size and resolution. My computers
are not misconfigured.
Everyone's system is not the same. Some screens are large, some small. Some
screens are low resolution, some high. And there are in between sizes and
resolutions. All those variations result in varying dimensions for 16px, as
a px varies in size according to those variables. The default default size of
16px should neither be presumed to remain in effect, nor presumed to be
anything other than a perfect size. Any presumption that 100% p body is not
perfect in the user's own environment is nothing less than rude.
If 16px is gigantic for you, fix your own computer. Don't rudely mess with
everyone else's.
--
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he
is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6 NIV
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409
Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
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