I don't ever use pixels. High resolution monitors are becoming more common and on one of my computers 10px is the physical size of 4.5pt print on papers. So I use ems almost exlusively and won't go lower than .9em (or 90%) for body text. Side columns maybe a little smaller.
Joe - 15 years ago
It all depends on the font for me. I'll have to make some of the larger ones smaller and vice versa.
One of the reasons for the big font size trend is that the resolutions of the screens increased. Now the lowest resolution for a laptop is 1280x800 and for a moderate 19-20" lcd monitor it is 1650x1080 so it's not as old times when the most used resolution was 640x480 or 800x600 if you are lucky. By then I was using 9px and 11px. But if you use 9px or 11px on a high resolution monitor even I have problems reading sometimes. So recently I started using 14px for body crop and 18px for headlines.
ben - 15 years ago
.88em usually. I've always thought it was bad practice to use pixels for font sizes because they don't resize well in older browsers.
16pt type online is the equivalent of 11pt type in print:
http://www.wilsonminer.com/posts/2008/oct/20/relative-readability/
16pt type online only looks unusually large as we're used to seeing much smaller, but actually it's the best size for readability. That's also why browsers use that font size default.
Font size depends on clients and their audience. Older readers need larger font sizes. Less experienced readers do not know how to enlarge text in their browser. Having a one-size-fits all answer as in above is silly.
I use 12px most often, but will vary the size based upon the client's target audience.
I don't ever use pixels. High resolution monitors are becoming more common and on one of my computers 10px is the physical size of 4.5pt print on papers. So I use ems almost exlusively and won't go lower than .9em (or 90%) for body text. Side columns maybe a little smaller.
It all depends on the font for me. I'll have to make some of the larger ones smaller and vice versa.
One of the reasons for the big font size trend is that the resolutions of the screens increased. Now the lowest resolution for a laptop is 1280x800 and for a moderate 19-20" lcd monitor it is 1650x1080 so it's not as old times when the most used resolution was 640x480 or 800x600 if you are lucky. By then I was using 9px and 11px. But if you use 9px or 11px on a high resolution monitor even I have problems reading sometimes. So recently I started using 14px for body crop and 18px for headlines.
.88em usually. I've always thought it was bad practice to use pixels for font sizes because they don't resize well in older browsers.
11px for clients...
We've been upping the font size on the last few sites we've built. Not because of trends, but to increase legibility on large screens.
I usually stay around 12px, unless 10px fits better. I guess I haven't gotten into the whole "make your font crazy huge Web 2.0" trend.
16pt type online is the equivalent of 11pt type in print:
http://www.wilsonminer.com/posts/2008/oct/20/relative-readability/
16pt type online only looks unusually large as we're used to seeing much smaller, but actually it's the best size for readability. That's also why browsers use that font size default.
Trends are interesting... A few years ago, small type was in for body content, and now we're back to larger type again.
All of the options are in px? For shame. Sure, I use pt which is only a half-step better, but still.
I typically go with 0.9em
I generally go by 75% set in the which gives a standard size, then users can always enlarge with their browser options if required.
Font size depends on clients and their audience. Older readers need larger font sizes. Less experienced readers do not know how to enlarge text in their browser. Having a one-size-fits all answer as in above is silly.