Best Font size/measurement/orientation ?

[Brightbelt]

Hi-
I'm on Frontpage 2003, Win XP Pro. This may be a rather basic question to
ask, but what is the Best/Ideal way to size fonts in my web (especially for
standard paragraph content/text) so that there is maximum cross-browser
compatibility ? For example, should I use the 'em' measurement and if so
what's the best 'em' size to use for standard paragraph content/text ?
Should I use percentages and if so, what percentage works best for standard
paragraph content ? What about pixels ? Points ? You can see how I've done
my fonts so far at www.frankbright.com .
I'm concerned about this question because I have a very good, newer top
of the line monitor, so that I'm developing my sites at a high resolution
(1024 x 768 pixels). So when I view my site at 600 x 800, eveything gets
pretty huge, including fonts if I'm not careful. I know this is beginner's
stuff, so Thanks for any help. I appreciate it,...Frank

 

[Murray]

Points are a print metric. They are based on ruler measurements (inches),
and are therefore unsuitable for use on a pixel based display. However,
they are all you get when you use font tags. To use any other unit, you
would need to be using CSS to style your text.

With CSS, you can specify character sizes in pixels, ems, ens, exs,
percents, or size names (small, medium, etc.). Pixel sizes are OK, except
that they can cause some problems for those browsing with IE, needing to
increase the size for readability, and not knowing how to use the
accessability options. Size names work well, except that your choices are
more limited (you only get xx-small, x-small, small, medium, large, x-large,
and xx-large). The remainder of the metrics are 'relative' measures, i.e.,
they depend on, and are relative to, the default font size for the page.
For example: if my CSS had a style that said -

body { font-size:24px; }

and I then had a paragraph like this -

<p style="font-size:.5em;">test</p>

then that word "test" would be rendered as if it were 12px size. If I
change the body default from 24px to 48px, then the word "test" would render
as if it were 24px size. This same effect would be true for any of the
relative metrics.

Now - it can get confusing, too. If I had a container div, like this -

<div style="font-size:.8em">
<p style="font-size:.5em">
</div>

then the word "test" would be rendered at .8 x 24 x .5 = 9.6px. In other
words, relative sizing is cumulative.

What to use? I usually use pixels for my text content, but that's me - your
mileage may vary.

 

[Brightbelt]

Thanks Murray for a really in depth answer. It's amazing how many web
books/tutorials one can browse through and often, fonts only get briefly
discussed, if at all. Thank you,...Frank

 

[Murray]

You're welcome!

--
Murray
============

Thanks Murray for a really in depth answer. It's amazing how many web
books/tutorials one can browse through and often, fonts only get briefly
discussed, if at all. Thank you,...Frank