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RE: Size 10 Font in User Guides Acceptable for Body Text?
Subject:RE: Size 10 Font in User Guides Acceptable for Body Text? From:Mseidel -at- triseptsolutions -dot- com To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 7 Mar 2008 11:57:25 -0600
Our team recently ran into the font size issue for our reference guides,
which are delivered as PDFs and intended/expected to be printed.
We previously used 8pt Century Gothic. We knew this was too small. After
testing different font types and sizes, documentation and training teams
(made up for people from their early 20s to their 60s) unanimously agreed
that 10pt Times New Roman was the most readable.
We've changed our docs and style guide to reflect this finding.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dori Green [mailto:dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com]
Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 11:45 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: Size 10 Font in User Guides Acceptable for Body Text?
Michael Ronquillo wrote:
The problem is that there is no company style guide and I am in the
process of making one. However, years and years of documents have
followed the size 10 Minion Pro font. For what it's worth, I was taught
size 12 in school and it's hard on my young mid-20's eyes as it is and
that should be reason enough.
My only concern is that we are breaking consistency issues with years or
previous work, but it's a necessary evil.
And thanks for the correction.
*************
I wouldn't go into a reformatting frenzy just to change type size, but
if I'm rewriting and reformatting anyway I'd make the change to meet
modern standards.
When creating a new style guide, I hate reinventing the wheel. I create
basic format samples showing compliance with an established style guide
and company preferences (for instance, "logo always appears in top left
corner"), and refer to the selected style guide for the excruciating
details. I do make it a point to stick to industry standards (MS for
software writing, CMS for manufacturing writing, etc.).
You're welcome. If our friends don't point out our errors, our enemies
surely shall. Feel free to return the favor any time.
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