Stylesheets - using serif font-family produces unreadable text

Author

using serif font-family produces unreadable text

Mike M

2004-07-23, 12:16 pm

Hi all,

Attempting to do css for cross platform/browser compatibility. Have an issue
with IE6 sp1 running on NT4.

When using IE6 sp1, example 1 works fine, example 2 produces unreadable
text. Rectangular blocks and symbols. Is this unreadable serif font deal a
known bug? Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

------------------------------------------------------------

example 1
body { font-family: sans-serif; }

example 2
body { font-family: serif; }

Additional info:
On the same computer Netscape 6.2 has no problem dealing with the same style
sheet and serif font.

If you want to take a look, this is a page I found on the web that has the
same problem with IE6 and serif font on my NT machine. Checked out the style
sheet and serif is specified. http://www.acc.umu.se/~sagge/audio/1259/

Andreas Prilop

2004-07-23, 12:16 pm

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004, Mike M wrote:

> When using IE6 sp1, example 1 works fine, example 2 produces unreadable
> text. Rectangular blocks and symbols. Is this unreadable serif font deal a
> known bug? Any suggestions appreciated.

Specify your chosen typefaces and supply a screenshot.

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Alan J. Flavell

2004-07-23, 12:16 pm

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004, Mike M wrote:

> Attempting to do css for cross platform/browser compatibility. Have an issue
> with IE6 sp1 running on NT4.

NT4 starts with a relatively impoverished set of fonts.

> When using IE6 sp1, example 1 works fine, example 2 produces unreadable
> text. Rectangular blocks and symbols. Is this unreadable serif font deal a
> known bug? Any suggestions appreciated.

Suggestions for you or for your readers?

For you - if your font selections are causing problems for your
readers, then stop doing it:
http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/~flavell...fonts.html#dont

For your readers - install optional language support, install better
fonts, make better default font selections, if necessary visit IE's
Accessibility menu and tell it to ignore fonts specified in the web
page.

On at least one Win OS (not sure if it was NT4 or NT5 ;-) I found that
installing Japanese language support (which I didn't actually need)
resulted in a wonderful expansion of the number of symbols which IE
would display correctly. Mozilla (Netscape >=6) had no problems
before or after... Opera was also OK.

> example 1
> body { font-family: sans-serif; }
>
> example 2
> body { font-family: serif; }

If you're going to specify font-family at all for IE, then you
probably should specify some of the better MS-supplied fonts first
(Arial, Lucida Sans Unicode, Palatino Linotype, Tahoma, etc. as the
case may be, but NOT Verdana (for reasons stated here often enough).
MS's choice of generic serif or sans font can often be distinctly
sub-optimal. However, fundamentally I stand by my original advice,
based on experience:

if you are trying to use a wide character repertoire in a WWW
context, then if you, as author, try to force a particular font to be
used by every reader, whether by CSS or by FONT FACE, you will likely
do more harm than good

By all means specify your choice of font for decorative headings and
other annotations where the character repertoire is not an issue, but
leave it off at least for the parts of the body content where you need
your wide repertoire. IMHO.

good luck.

Christoph Paeper

2004-07-23, 11:16 pm

*Mike M* <liasom@sbcglobal.net>:
>
> When using IE6 sp1, example 1 works fine, example 2 produces unreadable
> text. (...) known bug?

Yes, but I don't remember the exact circumstances to reproduce it or
whether this bug got a certain name.

> body { font-family: sans-serif; }
> body { font-family: serif; }

Specify at least one specific font (family) when using generic families.
It doesn't need to be widespread, not even exist.

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kchayka

2004-07-26, 12:15 pm

Mike M wrote:
>
> When using IE6 sp1, example 1 works fine, example 2 produces unreadable
> text. Rectangular blocks and symbols. Is this unreadable serif font deal a
> known bug? Any suggestions appreciated.

http://css.nu/pointers/bugs-ie.html

find in page: "serif"

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Markus Ernst

2004-07-27, 7:15 am

"Mike M" <liasom@sbcglobal.net> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:ZH7Mc.19910$6i3.10891@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com...
> Hi all,
>
> Attempting to do css for cross platform/browser compatibility. Have an
issue
> with IE6 sp1 running on NT4.
>
> When using IE6 sp1, example 1 works fine, example 2 produces unreadable
> text. Rectangular blocks and symbols. Is this unreadable serif font deal a
> known bug? Any suggestions appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> example 1
> body { font-family: sans-serif; }
>
> example 2
> body { font-family: serif; }

I had the same problem with sites with font-family: sans-serif after I
uninstalled the system font that IE used for it's default. The procedure to
get a normal display again was quite annoying:
- Remove all fonts
- Install Windows system fonts again
- Open Internet Explorer (Then it does not have the wrong font and should
choose a system font for default again)
- Close Internet Explorer and reinstall the other fonts

Anyway the problem is local at your box and not on your webpage. Still, as
others pointed out, font-family: Arial, sans-serif (or whatever) is a safer
choice.

HTH
Markus