Resolving Mac/Win font size differences

Poster: shacker
Dated: Tuesday January 24 2006 - 0:04:37 GMT

I've tried specifiying font sizes in px, em, and %, but no matter what I do, font size differences under Mac OS and Windows are so different that the menu size is dramatically affected. Shown here using

fontsize="90%";

First on the Mac:


And under Windows:


Any tips on getting these to render similarly?

Thanks,
Scot

(Wow, that's a pretty dramatic demo of how much better fonts look on the Mac, too!)

Poster: Ruth
Dated: Tuesday January 24 2006 - 1:51:40 GMT

I don't know what the solution would be unless you could get some kind of OS detector script and have it choose the fonts size based on that. The other option is to use images with the text part of the image then it would be the same on both, the problem being that this is can be difficult for those who need larger fonts for visual impairments.

Mac screen resolution is based on the print media system and is 72dpi resolution, dots per inch, but Windows is based on computer [graphical I think, ppi pixels per inch] and is usually 96dpi. The same fonts will then be a different size, on the mac 1/6th of 72, on the PC 1/6th of 96. So, the windows font ends up bigger.

I think I got all that right

Some have said they see the same size on some sites in Mac and PC but no one has put a link to the page so I can see what they did to get that.

Ruth

Poster: John
Dated: Tuesday January 24 2006 - 13:54:51 GMT

Short of Ruth's suggestion (discover the browser and then pick a CSS accordingly), you'll never get them exact. I've found that using px gets pretty close (% is very bad).

Poster: shacker
Dated: Wednesday January 25 2006 - 0:42:44 GMT

You're right John - px seems to give the closest similarity. At least I've managed to get both versions to be legible without exceeding the left/right boundaries now, so I think I'll stick with that, as long as the boss is OK with it.

Cheers,
Scot

Poster: John
Dated: Thursday January 26 2006 - 13:47:45 GMT

Insist that the boss be OK with it...