Discussion

By Dov Isaacs on Apr 14, 2023

The issue of point size becomes even more complex when it comes to display of text on a screen. Obviously, the larger the point size, the larger the text will appear on the screen. However, depending upon screen size, screen resolution, operating system / driver settings, application implementation, and possibly application settings, a text point size of let's say 12 point may not necessarily mean that the text as rendered is in fact readable. This is true not only for application generated text, but also HTML and PDF display. In the case of HTML, specification of text size in “pixels” can really muck things up.

- Dov

By Henry Hunt on Apr 16, 2023

Thank you for raising the issue of point size. At sixty-five, I need glasses to read like millions of others globally. It is frustrating when I put on Walmart +400 glasses (instead of my prescription 150+ glasses) for reading at least 10-15 % of packaging instructions, directions, and other pertinent information. It’s a real medical issue for seniors and others with impaired sight. As a retiree of the printing industry, I’m appalled by the seemingly don’t care crowd that thinks the x-height issue is not real. Topography, or a piece of knowledge, seems to be disappearing faster than paper-based printed publication materials. As a former Chief of Publishing for the United Nations, I was shocked that before retiring in 2022 that many publications had this issue, especially in the footnotes, many of which had been faded for aesthetic reasons. The icing on the cake was that they were trying to save the use of paper for the environment, and the insult to injury was that the authoring bodies of the publications found the comment on x-height irrelevant, or so I felt.