You can't just measure it by IE's +2 and -2, because for users with widescreen displays, the default is something like +1. This is because widescreen Windows XP runs at 120 dpi rather than the standard 96 dpi, and to compensate for small text, the text is automatically set to be larger. Therefore it's best to not assume that all users start from font-size:medium.
I can change those. But, the backgrounds are set not to repeat
vertically. So would it be better to a) Let the text flow into
empty white space; b) set a bckgound color and let it flow into that;
or c) let the background repeat?
I think choice b is the best one.
