russ - maxdesign wrote:
I'd put the question back to the group... Rather than ask "why should
I not use pixels, as there is nowhere that forces me not to", why
not ask "how can I make my content as accessible to the widest
audience possible".
If you ask this question, then right now, with the current browser
situation, this means that pixels are not desirable as they can
possibly (regardless of whether a guideline or not) adversely affect
a large number of users.
I'm all for re-sizable font sizing methods, but I think the only thing
that matters is that any web page should be able to take it-- no matter
how we define font size.
The current browser situation means nothing here.
Two factors creates this accessibility-problem with pixel-defined text:
- Web designers in general don't know that IE/win can *override* font sizes.
- Users in general don't know that either.
The technical side of it:
IE/win has "ignore font size..." amongst its accessibility-options...
http://www.seoconsultants.com/windows/ie/accessibility/
... and have had it since IE4 (at least), so we can not say that pixel
defined fonts is an accessibility-problem in any major browser today.
The fact that so many web pages becomes broken and inaccessible when
this accessibility-option is used, is caused by web designers who don't
know the browsers they design for well enough.
It should only take a minute or two to test out what IE/win can and
cannot do (don't forget to look at line height).
The simple fact is that most pages behaves better and are more
accessible when we *do not* try to set font sizes "in stone".
regards
Georg
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