[thelist] RE: [] Cross browser fonts

[martin burns]

Aardvaark wrote:
> > From: [ vidman design ]
> > I need to know what is a good substitue for "verdana" that is common
> on
> > a mac. Would it be Arial? Or Helvetica?Or maybe something else?  Any
> > suggestions welcome.
> 
> verdana can be obtained for the Mac...

The default IE install installs Verdana and Arial.


> but i would iterate through them anyway for those who don't have 'em:
> 
> <font face="verdana,arial,sans-serif">
> 
> or using CSS:
> 
> { Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif ;}
> 
> otherwise, i am not aware of any default fonts that are similar to
> verdana on the Mac...
> 
> see if someone else answers...

The trouble with Helvetica is that it's not designed for onscreen user as Arial and Verdana are. It looks great in print, but it's quite hard to read onscreen. The canonical onscreen font for Macs which is similar to Helvetica is Geneva.

However, if you want to make Mac users love you, use a uniquely Mac font like Chicago or Charcoal. Like any vociferous minority group, Mac users are fiercely loyal to sites which go out of their way to cater for them.

Adding a Mac font isn't a lot of work, but it will win you major loyalty from Mac users as long as the rest of the site doesn't tell them to get stuffed.

Adding a Sherlock plugin will also be very, very helpful. More info at
http://evolt.org/index.cfm?menu=8&cid=555

Cheers
Martin