Default font sizes also depend on the cultural background of the
viewers/users. The default setting on Windows works out to be the
same size as Times New Roman 10 pt when printed on Letter size paper.
Australian's prefer default sizes of Times New Roman 12 pt when
printed on A4 paper. I believe (preparing to be corrected quickly)
that Europeans sizes are the same as the Australian default sizes.
European type fonts (Nordic, etc) really need the larger 12 pt
equivalent.
I agree with Lachlan that designers with 19", 21", 20" Cinema
Displays, etc do prefer smaller fonts that display well, especially
on LCD screens at the smaller size but most users prefer font sizes
to be similar to printed pages they are used too.
This can change slightly with sans serif fonts as they are generally
slightly larger when printed at the same point size. Sans serif fonts
can also appear clearer on monitors because of the slightly larger
than normal leading built into the font.
So if you need to specify and design with font sizes different to the
defaults I believe that you should make fonts no smaller than the 12
pt equivalent, unless using sans serif all caps or similar. User that
need larger fonts or who have smaller monitors will then have no
problem reading your web sites. I'll let you work out point to pixel
to em sizes that appear similar.
All this is just a suggestion and I have seen many effective web
sites use small default text and large default text - it depends on
the target audience.
Regards,
Steve
On 20/02/2006, at 10:57 PM, Patrick Lauke wrote:
Lachlan Hunt
but lot's of people (mostly designers) who prefer smaller
font-sizes.
It's unfortunate that so many designers prefer small font
sizes. They
fail to realise that while they may think small fonts may
look good from
a design perspective and are easily readable on their massive,
super-high resolution, 21" monitors, it actually looks really
awful and
is extremely difficult for many users to read.
A far more fundamental group of people (which I already mentioned
in my first email on this discussion) is of course that of
the clients who pay for web design/development. Yes, we as developers
can educate them, but when they see their competitor sites (and
even big sites from the likes of IBM and co.) *all* setting a slightly
smaller default font size, they expect the same on their site as well.
A "yes, but all those other sites are wrong and I do it the right way"
argument won't hold much weight in that situation, I'm afraid...
Patrick
________________________________
Patrick H. Lauke
Web Editor / University of Salford
http://www.salford.ac.uk
________________________________
Web Standards Project (WaSP) Accessibility Task Force
http://webstandards.org/
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