[thelist] "Web 2.0 sites with the big friendly fonts"

Sarah Adams mr.sanders at geekjock.ca
Wed Feb 21 12:06:09 CST 2007


> How many do or don't change theirs is unknowable, and, more importantly,
> shouldn't matter. The fact is most people accessing web sites are using
> personal computers that include the ability to personalize such things as
> text size as they see fit and/or find necessary. To presume that something
> other than their defaults are somehow better for them in their different
> environments because you like it better in your own environment is
> enormously rude.

I think there is a flaw in this thinking. While it's true that users are
able to change their default font size, I believe most (current audience
aside) will not, for the simple fact that *they have no idea how to*.

Also, browsers usually have larger default font sizes than most other
popular applications (e.g. Word), so I believe this may have contributed
to the historical trend of shrinking the font size in web pages, i.e. to
make it closer to the size people are used to seeing on their monitor.
The fact that print type is usually much smaller than on-screen type
might have contributed, too.

I really don't think this problem has been caused by a bunch of rude and
inconsiderate designers who don't give a damn for their users - there is
simply no way this description could apply to every single designer who
has ever made this choice.

-- 
sarah adams
web developer & programmer
portfolio: http://sarah.designshift.com
blog: http://hardedge.ca



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