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Serif vs. sans serif on the Web

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carl67lp

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 17, 2001
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I've been talking with my boss about the redesign of our site, and we got into a side discussion about fonts. He mentioned that serif fonts are proven to be easier to read. I concurred, but with the qualification that the assumption is based on print media. On the Web, I argued, it's been shown that sans serif fonts (Verdana, Arial, and the like) are easier to read.

He found this interesting, and asked that I back it up, which I'm only too happy to do.

Trouble is, I can't seem to find where I read it! I did find a site that talked a bit about it, but it wasn't from anyone I'd heard of or who seems to have wide recognition. I'd love to find some research from some well-known entities (like Jakob Nielsen, A List Apart, Zeldman, et al).

Does anyone have any tips or links? Thanks.
 
The basic argument is that, while serifs make text easier to read, they require a higher resolution to display properly without getting in the way. At the 300+ DPI of a laser printer, they're wonderful. At the 72-ish DPI of a monitor, you don't have the resolution (even with good hinting) to display them on 10pt accurately.

If you want a good source, see about finding a copy of "The Elements of Typographic Style" - I'm pretty sure it's in there.
 
my rule of thumb. use sans-serif for small fonts and serif for large fonts. Eg- verdana (sans-serif) for content and Georgia (serif) for section headings. For print only stylesheets I stick with serif (Arial)
 
Arial is a sans-serif font. ;)

I had always heard sans-serif is easier to read on computer monitors, and so I use all sans-serif on my sites (mainly Arial). I might use a serif font for an <hx> header though, depending.
 
my personal preference:
- printed stuff = serif fonts
- online sites = sans-serif fonts

also, most site development i've done usually states that sans-serif is needed for all text blocks (unless otherwise specified in special cases).
 
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