On 2010/09/01 15:50 (GMT-0400) Bob Meetin composed:
> What is the current rule of thumb for setting or controlling font sizes
> in the stylesheet?
Remember, CSS is a language of suggestion, not one of control like in DTP.
The user has ultimate control, because, after all, its her puter, or whatever
other device she's using to open your page.
> html {
> font-size: (px or em) (if any?)
> }
There's no point setting anything on html unless you're trying to work around
IE4-IE6 bugs.
> body {
> font-size: (px or em) (if any?)
> }
If px, you're completely disregarding the visitors preferred size.
If em, other than 1em, you're in effect telling the visitor her preferred
size is inappropriate. Since you are not there, don't know her screen
resolution, don't know her display size, don't know her viewing distance,
don't know how well she can see, and don't know other factors affecting
suitability of text size on her screen, how do you justify that presumption?
% & em on body are equivalent, except that em on body IE4-IE6 (and in
compatibility & quirks modes too with newer versions) is broken, so to avoid
that trouble any size you would set in em on body should be set in % instead.
> Any IF IE adjustments for IE vs Mozilla/Safari?
Default sizes are set in px in Gecko/Webkit, while pt in IE. The IE default
default is always 12pt, but the px size of 12pt depends on DPI, which on high
resolution displays is typically not set to the assumption of 96 made by
default in Windows and nearly universally lemming'd elsewhere. At 96[1], 12pt
is 16px, which are the initial defaults in most implementations of Gecko and
Webkit. At 120, common on expensive laptops and the higher quality desktop
displays, 12pt is 20px, or 25% larger than unpersonalized versions of Gecko &
Webkit.
> Part of the reason I
> ask is because when you use a CMS program and a custom theme, the theme
> commonly comes with an elaborate stylesheet that sets specific font
> sizes for modules or components well beyond the html, body declarations.
CMS themes invariably attempt to control to excess, and rarely are designed
to maximize visitor friendliness and usability.
> Also, if the them includes a font-size adjuster, would you set it to
> follow suit in em's or px's or disable it and let the viewer user the
> browser zoom function?
Browser zoom, as well as minimum size, are defense mechanisms. Pages that are
not offensive do not result in need for applying defenses. On page adjusters
are redundant extra clutter, since control of text size is built into browser
for users' convenience. And, they tend to be too small to be usable for those
who would most need them if they didn't know how to use their own browsers
controls.
[1] http://blogs.msdn.com/fontblog/archive/2005/11/08/490490.aspx
--
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409
Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
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