Fonts & Text Styles

Fonts, Text Styles, Sizes, Typefaces....

I’m not going to go into the definitions of the different words. You will find some sites that are picky about the terminology, but most programs use the word Font when asking you to choose among a set of alpha-numeric characters and the word Style when letting you choose pre-set type sizes, colors, and typestyles (bold, italic, etc). The last section of this page includes links to the definitions and information about the history of typesetting - just because I enjoy learning about that kind of thing!

Related Topics:

Many individuals personalize the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) used on their browsers to allow them to more easily view and interact with online material, regardless of how the web sties were designed to look. (See the Web Authoring page on this site for additional information.)

Suggestions for Best Practices

From :

  • Use simple and easy-to-read fonts

    • Don't use a lot of different fonts on the same page

  • Avoid WordArt and other text in graphics

  • Fonts must be readable when magnified x 200

  • Make sure there is high color contrast between text and background

  • Don’t rely on the appearance of the font to convey meaning

  • Avoid blinking, scrolling, or moving text

  • (You may see arguments both ways, but...) use sans serif fonts (the ones withOUT little tails).

Sources: Collected from many sites, webinars, workshops, and readings.

Start Here

    • Fonts [WebAIM] http://webaim.org/techniques/fonts/

    • File Size & Format https://sites.google.com/site/helpdeskaccessibility/multimedia/file-size-format

General Information

Definitions and History of Typesetting

Font [What Is?] http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/font

What's The Difference Between A Font And A Typeface? http://www.fastcodesign.com/3028971/whats-the-difference-between-a-font-and-a-typeface

Typography Terms http://www.proximasoftware.com/fontexpert/terms/#s

Styles and Themes http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/themes.html