When it comes to font size on your blog or website it could make or break a deal. Did you know that using pixels for font size can lead to major accessibility issues? Did you know that using Points as your measurement can leave you with inconsistent sizes across browsers. Selecting the browser default size is the most accessible method; however the size is often too big for the average web user.
Let me be honest here, I have been an advocate (okay not really an advocate) but I have been using pixels to size my fonts from the beginning. I loved being able to take absolute control of the size of my fonts, so just after I finish this post I will be going back to ALL of my sites and making some changes.
What is the best option for font resizing? A combination of percentages and Ems is the best option for web developer’s.
What is Em, you ask? Here’s the Wikipedia definition.
An em is a unit of measurement in the field of typography, equal to the point size of the current font. This unit is not defined in terms of any specific typeface, and thus is the same for all fonts at a given point size.[1] So, 1 em in a 16 point typeface is 16 points.
Using Percentages and Ems for your font size not only lets you resize consistently in almost all browsers but it also allows the user to set their own font size to suit their needs. Plus this method is recommended by the Web Accessibility initiative (WAI). The WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which states, “Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values.
In short, size does matter. At least when it comes to font size that is Does size matter for anything else. Well, that’s not for me to decide.
It’s a good thing I know how to get my hands dirty .
