Re: Character height

Hi Ginger, 

WCAG 2 does not have a minimum text size.

You say “character height of 8 dpx” 

dpx?? Do you mean device pixels? Or do you mean 8px, as in the CSS reference px?? And do you mean {font-size: 8px;} or do you mean the rasterized x-height? Those are two different things.

8px is small for either, and if you mean the CSS font size, that is smaller than is easily readable even with perfect vision at standard distance.

For x-height, 9.4px is the ideal minimum for content, and using the font Helvetica, this is a font size of 18px. Or it’s 21px for Times. 16px Verdana is typically okay. These sizes assume adequate contrast (minimum 10:1)

These suggested minimums are not part of WCAG standards, as noted.

If you are interested in actual accessibility, WCAG2 is a low bar to meet, I do recommend aiming higher. 


Is the 8px text being used for content? And did you mean the CSS size? Or?

Sent from Andy’s iPhone

> From: Ginger Claassen <ginger.claassen@gmx.de> 
> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2023 11:03 AM
> To: ML W3C, WAI <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> Subject: Character height
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> 
> I have a question concerning character height in websites. We have developed a website and an external company did an accessibility evaluation and failed us in this point. We have a character height of 8 dpx and they mentioned that this would be WCAG compliant, however, would fail ISO 9142.303 chapter 5.5.4.
> 
> Does anyone has an opinion regarding this issue? It is the first time that we got failed in this regard.
> 
> 
> Solong and thanks for your input
> 
> 
>     Ginger
> 
>