Yes, I vote for making the format as accessible-friendly as possible.
I have been using "em" sizes in the style sheet I am working on for one
book. This lets the user set the sizes larger or smaller if they like by
changing the browser defaults, and the text reflows to accommodate the
space. Older readers may need a larger size to read easily such as 16pt or
larger. People with visual impairments may need much larger sizes.

Terence de Giere
Human Factors International

----- Original Message -----
From: Dewayne Cushman <DCushman(at)stewart.com>
To: Hwg-Gutenberg (E-mail) <hwg-gutenberg(at)hwg.org>
Sent: 2000/March/17 / 07:23
Subject: Request


Hello all,

First, I just wanted to say hi to everyone on the list, and to say thanks
for all the great work that being done.

My request is for font formatting in the style sheets. I'm personally
involved with developing software for people vision impairments, and I have
noticed there are some potential problems with the current style sheets.
Mainly in the use of specific font size elements. By specifying
font-size:12pt it over rides the browsers (IE5+) ability to change the size
of the font via the text size options. But if the style sheet specifies
font-size:large; font-size-extra small; etc. the browser is able to
proportionately adjust the size needed for those with low vision. For
default text size simple leave the font-size element out of the definition,
and let the browser determine the appropriate size. Yes it gives up some of
the "control" of display, but it adds some very powerful abilities to the
end user. Unfortunately, I only have the Windows IE5 version of XML browser,
so this may be a browser specific bug, but it is something we need to
consider as we go forward. I know we don't want to leave out 10 percent of
the world population from being able to access the world's greatest
literature.

Keep up the good work everybody, and let me know your thoughts.

Later,
Dewayne Cushman
Houston, TX

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