Most web browsers have as their default font (type face) "Times". This is not the most readable one, since it was designed for the high resolution of print, not the low resolution of screens.
You will find that if you use the font "Verdana", you will have better readability. Go to the settings in your browser and change the default font.
If you don't like sans-serif fonts (without the little lines at the end of the vertical lines), then try the font "Georgia", which was also designed for screen use.)
Also most sites have too small text. I recommend a minimum size of 14 points. I use 18 points, but then I use a very big screen.
Useful suggestions, thanks. Also good to see clear reasons for the suggestions!
ReplyDeleteAny chance of a link to a sensible site where issues of legibility are tackled in depth and with authority?
"Useful suggestions, thanks. Also good to see clear reasons for the suggestions!"
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of understanding the *reason* for rules and guidelines.
"Any chance of a link to a sensible site where issues of legibility are tackled in depth and with authority?"
I don't know any, but I am sure Google will help ya.
Microsoft have some information in their typography web pages. It seems to have moved from where I originally found it, but start now from http://www.microsoft.com/typography/links/default.aspx.
ReplyDeleteCareful with your font size recommendations, Eolake - it depends so much on the dpi of the user's screen. My old Mac is still effectively 72dpi, yet most Windows machines assume 96dpi - I don't know what your OSX Mac is. Although specifying a size in points makes it easier for the browser when the page is printed, you have to consider that most web pages are viewed - at least initially - on screen. I believe it is better to quote the font size in pixels, that way you get a readable result regardless of how the user's operating system translates points to pixels.
The World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/) actually recommend NOT specifying a font size explicitly, but using proportional sizes in Style Sheets - i.e. 120% for slightly larger than normal, etc. That way, the user sets up their system, whatever that may be, and your text is displayed in sizes relative to that user's ideal readable size.
t
"The World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/) actually recommend NOT specifying a font size explicitly"
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree very much.
Anyway I was talking to web users, not web designers.
There is no simple and common way for those to define text size in pixels.