Web Typography

While the Internet is clearly a visual medium, the way in which text is presented can often make the difference in a visitor's experience. There are a few things to consider as you add text to your site:

1. Font availability: in order for a font to appear properly on your site your visitors must have that font installed on their computer. If that font is not available then text will appear in a default font (usually Times New Roman). Most users are unaware that they are in control of how text appears in their browser.

2. Screen legibility: some fonts read well on paper and look terrible on a monitor. Verdana is the most popular font for online use as it was designed specifically to be viewed on a monitor. Sans-serif fonts generally are better for webpages than serif fonts.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

3. Text color: dark text over a light background is easier to read. Yes, I am breaking the rule. Try the Online Color Lab to mix text and background colors.

4. If you MUST have complete control over your font one option is to enter the text in Photoshop and save it as an image.

Reality check when using images for text placement:

>text cannot be copied and pasted (good and bad)
>search engines won't recognize this text.
>visitors who use screen readers to convery text into sound will not have access to this type of text.
>slows webpage.
>if the image doesn't display your text is lost.
>text as image works well for buttons, banners, and short chunks of text. Long passages of text are best left as text.