Rails - May 2006 - Re: Re: Ruby on Rails Searchable and AnnotatableDocs

> body#rails_outertrack_com {
>   font-size: 14px /* Be kind to these li''l eyes of yours, baby */
> }
> 
> Dominique Rose-Rosette
Be kinder by specifying {font-size 1em} so that it''s scalable.  My
pixels are smaller than yours baby.

Seriously though folks,  please try and move away from absolute sizes for
elements (px).  Unless they''ve fixed it IE can''t resize a 14px
font (View -> Text Size).  Your also assuming that 14px is the same size on
all monitors and that ain''t the case.

Ross

Le Jeudi 18 Mai 2006 01:07, Ross Dawson a ?crit?:
> > body#rails_outertrack_com {
> >   font-size: 14px /* Be kind to these li''l eyes of yours,
baby */
> > }
> >
> > Dominique Rose-Rosette
>
> Be kinder by specifying {font-size 1em} so that it''s scalable.  My
pixels
> are smaller than yours baby.
>
Sure! There''s definitely no arguing on that. Yet, this CSS definition
would
not impact you, or anyone besides me for that matter, as I was referring to a 
* user-defined * stylesheet (typically 
~/.mozilla/firefox/[profile]/chrome/userContent.css for *nix Firefox users)

Granted, this is no general and immediate cure to the font-size problem, as it 
requires manual intervention, but that unfortunately seldom used body#id tag 
trick would a nice little addition, imho.

> Seriously though folks,  please try and move away from absolute sizes for
> elements (px).  Unless they''ve fixed it IE can''t resize a
14px font (View
> -> Text Size).  Your also assuming that 14px is the same size on all
> monitors and that ain''t the case.

Generally speaking, yes, em-based font sizes are far more accessible and 
convenient, at least theoretically. But they sure have their fair share of 
practical drawbacks, the least of which being the HUGE default pixel size for 
IE (16 pixels). (Two freshly googled references: 
http://builder.com.com/5100-6371-5210803.html and
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=FontSize)

So the different-base-font-size-across-platforms problem you mentioned
goes for em at least as sharply as with other units. At least, they are 
resizable, that''s right. But finding a good practical default implies 
resorting to clever hacks in your site''s stylesheet. It''s not
as simple
as changing em for px in the stylesheet.


So, as much as I would advocate using a em-based default font size
in the site''s stylesheet - and I totally agree with you this - I think
that
providing a convenient way for individual users to further refine the
site''s
appearance according to their specific constraints and needs would be a dead 
simple yet efficient bonus.



DRR

<...>
>  Seriously though folks,  please try and move away from absolute sizes for
elements (px).
> Unless they''ve fixed it IE can''t resize a 14px font (View
-> Text Size).  Your also assuming that
> 14px is the same size on all monitors and that ain''t the case.
<...>

You have just let evil nitpicker out of me, so here it goes:

Absolute units in CSS are: cm, mm, in, pt, pc.
Relative units are: em, ex, px.

As you say yourself:
> Your also assuming that 14px is the same size on all monitors and that
ain''t the case.
That means "relative", I suppose.

Quote from The God of The Accessibility Joe Clark[1]:

"Today, I want everyone in the room to take a vow never to say
anything like that ever again. Do not tell people, or tell yourself,
or even think that there''s something inherently wrong with pixel-based
fonts. What there''s something inherently wrong with is Internet
Explorer for Windows"

_Yes_, I do thing that setting font size in such way that even poor IE
users can resize them is a
Good Thing (tm). (I also may think, that these three people who know
how to do that resizing are using FF or Opera anyway, but that''s
irrelevant).

_No_, I do not think that anybody setting font size in px should be
punished or called names.

And we absolutely _do not need_ pointless discussion and/or flame war
on this subject. Just do
it in the way you think is the right one.

[1] http://joeclark.org/atmedia/atmedia-NOTES-2.html


Regards,
Rimantas
--
http://rimantas.com/

Connor, I just want to say thank you once again.  You''ve done an
awesome job and provide a great contribution to the community.  While
those in this thread beat each other to a bloody pulp over "who''s
font
is larger" I will be enjoying your work and having even more fun
writing Rails applications because of it.  Time to get annotating...

Michael