different type of font settings?

[jilly]

I am looking into 'usability' issues, and the issue of a user being able to set their font size to a larger one than what I have set as the default size, for example if they are vision impaired, and can't read small type. My understanding is that if the style sheet is set in pixels, then that fixes the font size, and it cannot be adjusted by the user - but if you use something called EMs, then the user can adjust the font on their own browser so they can see.
So perhaps future versions could set the default style sheets in Ems instead of pixels, for better usability.. Or make an easy way to just click a button in the options area, and make a global change through all forums that font size can be adjusted by individuals who need larger fonts.
(I know this messes up the look sometimes, but as I have a mother and a friend who are vision impaired, I think being able to see it at all overrides the possible style issues.)

[Wayne Luke]

The way that the normalfont and smallfont tags are set in the default distribution they are scalable.

EMs have big disadvantages as 1 EM is approximately 16 pts or 20 pixels in some browsers and smaller in others.

Instead of using EM's you should use x-small, small, medium, large and x-large. These are also scalable. I usually use small or medium as my base size and make everything else a percentage of those values to make them larger or smaller.

Some notes:
Windows PC's show fonts larger than Macintoshes.

Internet Explorer will show fonts larger than any other browser with Netscape 4.XX being the smallest because it shows fonts 1 px smaller than specified.

There is also a minimum font size of about 9px in Netscape 4.XX because they assume most people can't read it any so why display it...

[jilly]

I appreciate the answers :)
jilly