Dreamweaver - What is the consensus: font sizes in 'pt', 'px' or

Author

What is the consensus: font sizes in 'pt', 'px' or

Lesurel

2005-03-05, 11:17 pm

Is there a rule of thumb as to whether px or pt should be used for font sizes
in web design? Or do most designers use ems?

I've been pouring over this forum and the internet for a long time now, and
have not come up with a solid answer. I had been using px, but read later that
this wasn't a good option because the user can't easily resize the text. (Not
everyone has caught on to Firefox yet! -g-). Then I found another source that
contradicts this advice. Same argument for pt size, which was said that it is
for print media -- not web pages. Then I read in another place that pt sizing
is fine.

What do the experts here think?

And here is my question about the H1, H2 tags. In my CSS file, if I tell
<body> to be 13px (for example). Can I then use percentages for the other tags,
or do I need to pick one format and stick to it? If do call <H2> to be 'size:
125%' ... is it 125% of the 13px I named in <body>? Would it be better to just
tell <H2> to be 16px (for example)?

Is there a resource that lists the defaults for the heading tags?

It's hard when you know just enough to be dangerous! LOL

If anyone can help shed some light on any of this, I'd really appreciate it.

Leslie

Lesurel

2005-03-06, 6:21 pm

Donna - Thank you very much for the informative and thorough reply. The website
you linked to is not working at the moment, but I will go back and check later.
I appreciate the facts and figures, but also having examples of what you use
in your projects is very helpful, too! I see *why* ems and percentages are a
good choice. My brother is legally blind, so I've heard first hand how some
websites are very difficult to read due to design choices.

David and Osgood - I chuckled at the debate you're having about this because
it is exactly what I meant about not being able to find a clear answer. However
in reading your posts, I learned a lot about WHY there is a debate. I really
appreciate you both taking the time to respond to my question!

I think for the client website I am currently working on, for the sake of the
deadline I'm going to side with Osgood and use px. But for my own personal
website I am going to experiment with ems and see if I can find a happy balance
between design and usability.

I also appreciate you bringing up the issue of the graphic navigation. I am
going to see what I can do to improve the way I currently have it designed to
be more readable for more people.

Thanks,
Leslie