RE: [External Email]Re: Minimum font size requirement or guideline for accessbility

In my experience as a web designer, I find that 1em or 12pt =16px is the ideal size because it’s comfortable for people to read. I would add making sure you have a good line height. I use 1.5 at a minimum. Also making sure that your font can zoom up to 200% and be readable.
Thanks,
Lisa

Lisa G. Wilcox (she/her)
Web Design Lead / UI/UX Lead / Section 508 Coordinator
Certified Scrum Professional – Scrum Master / Scrum Foundations Educator
Lisa.wilcox@usda.gov<mailto:Lisa.wilcox@usda.gov> / 202-999-9619

USDA ERS
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From: Guy Hickling <guy.hickling@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 8, 2023 11:01 AM
To: WAI Interest Group discussion list <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Subject: [External Email]Re: Minimum font size requirement or guideline for accessbility

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It is absolutely right, when it comes to the CSS, to say don't use px units. But using CSS "medium" is also bad as that still overrides the user settings. Either use rem and em, or %, because then the sizing is based on the user's own font size they selected in their operating system or browser settings. Some users choose a larger font size than the preset one, and don't want the developer overruling that!

However, leaving all that aside, the original question was "...wondering if there are any requirements or guidelines for font size that will help better readability for all". The answer to that you do need a minimum, or even people with good vision will find it tiring to read lots of text in a small font. All those websites using 12 or even 10px are a bit too small for comfort for most people. So it seems to be generally recommended (but nothing for this in the WCAG) that 16px (talking here in CSS terms of px units not pixels), which equates to CSS "medium" in most browsers, is really as small as a design should ideally go. But just saying "don't go below medium font" just begs the question, What do you mean by medium!






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