RE: font sizes for HTML help (was Re: Verdana 8 for HTML Help or WebHelp)

["Lois Patterson" <lois -at- dowco -dot- com>]

This is true from a purist, ideological point of view, and I even agree on
some level. It may be that what I'm doing doesn't deserve to be called HTML,
but that's okay too.

From a practical standpoint, I would guess that >90% of users never, ever
change their browser font size. Acrobat still has numerous limitations from
the standpoint of being a good online help option. So I just have to do the
best I can to reach the > 90% (my guess) of users who will just use the
defaults. Given some of the other requirements of the system I am
documenting (it will require Windows NT or 2000 and it will require an 800 x
600 or greater screen resolution), I think it's safe to design the help from
the point of view of what will look good at 800 x 600 on a
reasonable-quality monitor.

Lois Patterson

[snip]

> This is espically true when working with HTML, as browser settings
override
> HTML tag attributes. Of course, as I constantly rant, HTML is not a
language
> for creating page layouts. It's a markup language for creating hypertext
> links. It has never (even at version 4+)been intended for that use. That's
> why we use Acrobat, and even that doesn't address all electronic
formatting
> issues. It just prints nicely. :)

> My $.01 (Taxes, you know.)

> Dan Hall
> danhall -at- consultant -dot- com