Re: Emphasising text techniques? (Take II)

Subject: Re: Emphasising text techniques? (Take II)
From: "Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 11:20:24 -0400


"Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> wrote:

The same rules for legibility and emphasis apply equally
>online and in print, with only minor differences in the details. More to the
>point, the answers I gave were predicated on my approach to online help in
>WinHelp, which is HTML Help's less-evil twin. <g> So I figure my advice is
>still pretty much applicable.

I'm not sure that's true. WinHelp does not use the same font rendering engine as a browser (well maybe it does if the browser in question is MSIE, but I'm not positive it's true even then); and WinHelp implies that the user is on a Windows system, which guarantees the presence of certain fonts.


>
><<What I tell our developers (for a Web application) and what I practice on
>our Web site is this: for text (as opposed to graphics, where anything
>goes), the only appropriate HTML font specification (in a style sheet, of
>course) is "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif.">>
>
>That's a pretty sensible approach if you've opted for font changes to
>indicate changed word function, and it pretty much guarantees that the
>reader will see some distinction (even if not the one you intended). But see
>my previous comments for problems with changing fonts: they have to be
>visually compatible for the process to work unobtrusively.

I'm explicitly NOT changing fonts. I'm using the first font from that list that happens to be available on the client platform. That's how the HTML font specification works. So in 99% of cases, the only font used is Arial.



> I'd agree with you about Garamond, but speaking
>as someone who spends most of my day and far too many nights editing other
>people's words on the aforementioned low-resolution device, I find that my
>error rate goes way up when I'm forced to edit in sans serif. Of course, the
>key to editing successfully in serif is to use an appropriate font (Times
>and its close kin work well for _me_) and type size (don't even think of
>using anything under 12 point, and probably 14 for Garamond).
>

I prefer serif fonts, as well (ABT*), when I can control the resolution. So when I am editing and can make the text whatever size I want just by increasing the scaling in the document window, I'm right there with ya'. But there are no "points" on a monitor. There are only pixels. How big is 14 pt type on a monitor? I dunno. Depends on the magnification applied. I don't mind reading serif fonts on a monitor, as I said, if I'm looking at type that is at least 18 pixels high. But that's kinda big for text in a Help window, don't you think?

*Anything But Times





>The problem with typography is that it's a highly personal thing, and what
>works for one reader won't work for another.

Well, it is and it isn't. Personal, I mean. A good designer can succeed at making most readers happy--or at least not contributing to their unhappiness.

>In particular, the problem I
>find with sans serif fonts is that lower-case L (l), the number one (1), the
>lower-case I (i), and the vertical bar (|) all look damn near
>indistinguishable in most such fonts. Just you try proofreading a document
>chock full of sans serif ilia, illuminations, and other ill-advised words
>such as i|man without missing half the distinctions. I quail at the
>prospect.

Again, for editing, I'd switch to a font that suited the purpose. There are excellent sans serifs and serifs that nicely distinguish all those characters. If I really had to make those distinctions in a browser, though, I think I'd have to go with either graphics or PDFs.

Dick



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