Web design and typography

Currently web designers can choose from thousands of fonts available and use them on
their websites using HTML and CSS. However if the font is not installed on the users
computer the font will render as a default font. There are fonts known as web safe fonts
that most web designers use in their web sites, these are fonts that most people have
installed on their computers. These fonts include sans-serif, serif, monospace, cursive and
fantasy fonts.
Also another big factor for web designers to think about is the color of the text. The easiest
text to read is black text on a white background because it provides the best contrast.
When using type on websites the designer has to be very careful to use the right font and
use them in a right way that does not confuse the viewer. The designer has to take into
consideration the readers field of view which relates to the viewing distance and type size.
The difficulty with web design is that each page will be viewed differently on different web
browsers. Opening a web page and then having to scroll vertically will make it very hard to
read the contents. Web pages should flow from the top to the bottom of the page.
Eye tracking studies show that when people enter a website they usually scan the main
sections of the page to see if its relevant to what they want. In less then three seconds
they make a decision about the page. If they decide to stay their eyes scan from left to
right horizontally.
The biggest mistake that can be made in web design is lack of consistency which is one of
the reasons CSS was developed. CSS knows as cascading style sheets adds the same
colors, fonts, sizes etc to each web page when selected.