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Um, Bruce--a slab serif *is* a serif. I presume you meant "just as
effective as a sans serif for online use?"
If so, I agree with you. The key, I believe, is that a slab serif
(also known as an "Egyptian" font, for those who are relatively new to
the fine art of typography) is a bold enough line that it works well
on a low-resolution screen.
Merely because a font is a sans-serif design doesn't make it all that
hot for online use. A highly stylized font with a large line width
difference can also be a poor choice, as can a font that has very
tight clearance between parts of the letter forms. At small font
sizes, for instance, it can be difficult to read fonts like Avant
Garde.
Rather than insisting upon typeography experts to conduct true
readability studies (since I'd wager that few of them are very
conversant with statistically valid scientific studies), a more
meaningful test would be using very compatible fonts that have sans
and serif variations to see if the mere fact of a serif makes a
difference one way or another in legibility.
Bitstream Vera sans and serif, Stone sans and serif, and other pairs
like this have very compatible and similar attributes except for the
presence of serifs and would be an extremely good place to start with
studies like this. After all, the idea is to start by controlling all
possible variables other than that which you are interested in
studying at a given time.
David
> Moreover, slab serifs can also be just as effective as serifs for
> on-line use.
>
> Perhaps "myth" is a little strong, but the idea is potentially
> misleading.
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