Survey - 10pt, 11pt or other text size

[kevh72]

So I'm designing my first commercial database and would like to see what the general consensus is regarding the size of text displayed in a browse layout - excluding labels and headers. I've been using 10pt.

Thanks.

-Kevin

[RalphL]

I think it would depend on the user's screen size and resolution. In my setup 10 is too small. MAC 17 inch monitor set to 1024 X 768.

[Fenton]

It depends on the font and the platform. On a PC Arial 10 is smallish, but OK. On a Mac it's small, still readable, but a real strain. Verdana 10 is readable on either platform, because it's wide. Verdana 11 is very readable, even when you lean back; but it's a little clunky; I wouldn't use it for labels for instance, unless I "grayed" it out a bit.

That's another approach, make the text one size larger than the size, but knock it down a couple notches from pure black (on an 88-color palette). Don't go too far though, laptops especially have problems with light gray.

FileMaker goes crazy with this, in their templates. They put HUGE text on the layout, but make it really light, a little overboard, but it illustrates the concept; contast and color can be used to emphasize or de-emphasize text.