July 12, 2007
July 06, 2007
Don't touch BODY {font-size:100%;}
Why would any webdesigner ever make the font-size of a webpage's BODY element to be anything other than 100%?
I can see two reasons to NOT change this attribute: Philosophical and Practical.
The Practical reason is, since you don't know what size the user has set for text in their preferences, then you don't know what a font-size of 80% or 120% is going to become. And since you don't know what pixel resolution they've set their screen to, you don't know what 12pt or 24pt are going to look like. And since you don't know how their browser is going to handle "point" sizes, you don't know what 12pt and 24pt are going to look like.
The Philosophical reason is, that the user sets their preferred font-size in prefs based on their personal taste, or the needs of their eyesight. It's intrusive, and inconsiderate for you to override their settings.
I think it's OK to set the font-family of BODY, but you should leave the -size alone. As needed you can change the -size of spot elements, like headlines, and other emphasized content. But do it as a percentage of the individual user's preferred font size.