[Air-l] Web font sizes

[Heidi haLevi]

Hi,

Surprising to see this lack of usability awareness here.
Rosemary - the 'reason' you heard holds just about as much water as the
designer who said that the small font was called 'subliminal design'. :)

I'd just like to second Robert's reply, and clarify:
The reasoning that Denise put forward is too often abused by designers for
whom the font is a design element, rather than something that actually has
to be legible and readable to their audience. The good designer will allow
for good contrast, sharpness and size from the get-go.
Using the small font size as a default is a good idea (particularly if you
happen to know that that's your target audience's setting) - as most people
don't really like to bother with such a nuisance. Imagine if you had to
change your font size for every site!

The reason so many sites use small fonts is mainly because it's fashionable,
and looks prettier than larger fonts. Designers do, in fact, need to become
more aware of how their design works with various sizes of fonts, and find
attractive ways of presenting information without assuming that their entire
audience has 6/6 vision, or is using IE and knows how to adjust font-sizes,
etc.

As someone who has taught web designers for a number of years, the main
issue seems to be different ways of processing information. Designers
generally think visually - i.e., composition, whole picture, balance. They
have a harder time focusing on particular/logical details such as is the
font readable, and does the hierarchy make sense. Teaching designers in fact
involves getting them to be aware of their own info. processing biases, and
how to balance their perspective.

The web is hybrid. And requires us to be as well :)


Heidi Dawn haLevi
.................
Information and
Experience Design

heidi at processing.co.il


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Denise N. Rall [mailto:denrall at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2005 5:04 AM
> To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org; ro.agbonlahor at arcisng.net
> Subject: Re: [Air-l] Web font sizes
>
>
> Sorry I've been on the list a bit but I have to reply
> to this.
>
> Ultimately font size is determined by the reader
> (viewer), go to the Explorer Menu> View >Font size
> and select your font size preference. I forget what it
> is in Netscape, it's in Preferences ?.
>
> I leave my font sizes small when building as it is my
> University's preference for a standard web page.  The
> size to the viewer is not an issue - the VIEWER can
> pick to go larger.
>
> Grandparents who know this leave their Explorer View
> font size on larger or largest. So they view every web
> page in a large font.  They won't even SEE the small
> fonts you are talking about unless someone changes
> their settings!  ;-)
>
> Cheers, Denise
>
>
> --- Rosemary Agbonlahor <ro.agbonlahor at arcisng.net>
> wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > Does anyone know why some websites use very small
> > Arial type fonts? I asked a colleague and he said it
> > was so as to get as much information as possible on
> > a page. Have there been studies in this area?
> >
> > Thanks a lot,
> >
> > Rosemary
> >
> > ======================
> > Rosemary Agbonlahor
> > Africa Regional Centre for Information Science
> > P.O. Box 22133
> > 6 Benue Road
> > University of Ibadan
> > NIGERIA
> > ------------------------------------------
> > Self development demands self discipline
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>
> =====
> Denise N. Rall, PhD candidate, School of Environ. Science,
> Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480
> Sustainable Forestry Mentoring Coordinator & Internet Researcher
> Room T2.12, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Tuesdays or Mobile 0438 233 344
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