3 ms·

Off topic, sorry, but just a question in general about this type of link on HN: Why is the font on that page so big? Isn't it better of everyone consistently

Off topic, sorry, but just a question in general about this type of link on HN: Why is the font on that page so big? Isn't it better of everyone consistently uses the same font size for content, rather than some pages using a big font for articles while others use a small font? In the past these "large font" pages did not really exist, it's a recent phenomenon...

estebank 13y ago
In the past, when? In the past, screen resolution was lower on screens roughly the same size as we use now. I find it weird how rarely people (including myself) modify the zoom level of the webpages they visit, unless they have vision problems, or are using a phone/tablet. Erring on the side of caution, too big a font is better than too small a font. The default font size for `p` is 16px, and it can be thought of the ideal size for text[1] on the browser. People will argue for bigger or smaller fonts[2], but I think that I see more people complaining about small fonts than big fonts, and with new higher resolution displays that have inconsistent ways of displaying pages across devices (is 1px a physical pixel? It isn't supposed to be, but most of the time it is, so front end designers assume they are, but the display size doesn't change... everybody uses a 1200x900 screen, right?), just make it readable on small high resolution displays. Having said that, a much bigger problem than small/big fonts is low contrast font color. If people using zoom is uncommon, people using personalised style sheets are unicorns. [1]: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/07/16-pixels-body-copy-anything-less-costly-mistake/ http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/07/16-pixels-body-co... [2]: http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/211/is-there-an-optimal-font-size http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/211/is-there-an-optima...

estebank 13y ago

In the past, when? In the past, screen resolution was lower on screens roughly the same size as we use now. I find it weird how rarely people (including myself) modify the zoom level of the webpages they visit, unless they have vision problems, or are using a phone/tablet. Erring on the side of caution, too big a font is better than too small a font. The default font size for `p` is 16px, and it can be thought of the ideal size for text[1] on the browser. People will argue for bigger or smaller fonts[2], but I think that I see more people complaining about small fonts than big fonts, and with new higher resolution displays that have inconsistent ways of displaying pages across devices (is 1px a physical pixel? It isn't supposed to be, but most of the time it is, so front end designers assume they are, but the display size doesn't change... everybody uses a 1200x900 screen, right?), just make it readable on small high resolution displays. Having said that, a much bigger problem than small/big fonts is low contrast font color. If people using zoom is uncommon, people using personalised style sheets are unicorns. [1]: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/07/16-pixels-body-copy-anything-less-costly-mistake/ http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/07/16-pixels-body-co... [2]: http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/211/is-there-an-optimal-font-size http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/211/is-there-an-optima...