[Python-Dev] Playing with a new theme for the docs, iteration 2

[Scott Dial]

On 3/26/2012 1:00 AM, Greg Ewing wrote:
> This seems to be another case of the designer over-specifying
> things. The page should just specify a sans-serif font and let
> the browser choose the best one available. Or not specify
> a font at all and leave it up to the user whether he wants
> serif or sans-serif for the body text -- some people have
> already said here that they prefer serif.

Why even bother formatting the page?

The authorship and editorship have authority to dictate the presentation
of the content. A large part of the effectiveness of a document and it's
ease of consumption is determined by how it appears in whatever medium
it's delivered on. While this particular medium invites the readership
to participate in design choices, fonts are not all created equal and
practical matters (size, tracking, and kerning) will dictate that some
fonts will present better than other fonts. Consistent presentation
across different systems is also a virtue, since people develop
familiarity with the presentation and find information more readily if
the presentation is consistent.

I have no problem having Georg dictating to me the best font with which
to present the documentation. However, I'd appreciate fallback choices
that are of a similar appearance along the way to the ultimate fallback
of "sans-serif". Practically, the fonts available are unknown and unless
we adopt the use of a liberally licensed OpenType font and use
@font-face to embed a font, we need to provide fallbacks.

-- 
Scott Dial
scott at scottdial.com