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03.04 Typography

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stuindhamma edited this page Jul 29, 2014 · 1 revision

Careful attention has been given to such details as:

  • Line length: about 80 characters. This is at the upper limit of acceptable line length; because it can be shortened but not lengthened.

  • Line height: 1.5 for most text; 2.0 for Burmese and possibly other scripts.

  • Size structure for headings: these have rations of 1, 1.5, 2. This is in line with the general ratios used for the entire site, which are based on the numbering of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: 2, 3, 4, 8, 12. These ratios are also expressed in, eg., the ration between line height and line length.

  • Use of correct punctuation: “quotes”, em-dash (—), en-dash (–), etc.

  • Hanging quote marks: this is implemented via a special javascript called "quotehanger".

  • Verses: centered on the longest line of the verse or group of verses. http://webtypography.net/Rhythm_and_Proportion/Blocks_and_Paragraphs/2.3.4/

The font size is, unusually, not specified. It will therefore be the device default. In all browsers this is 16px. This is substantially larger than most web sites use. The habit by web designers of using small font sizes is a design and usability mistake. (Refer to the following article) Other devices should likewise specify sensible defaults—we should trust them.

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