If an optimal line length for print is 66 characters, line lengths for web should be even smaller.
You’re right to mention line length as something that is overlooked, but on the screen it is not as simple as setting the measure in ems as their are more factors involved (screen size, liquid layouts, etc). Also I’d disagree that web line lengths should be shorter on the web. My personal preference would be for them to be longer – I find short line lengths on screen extremely hard work to read. That’s just my opinion though.
IE7 does not allow users to resize text sized in pixels. The layout can be zoomed, but the text can not be resized.
If you think of the reasons for changing text size then zooming a layout is just another form of resizing text and achieves the same goal.
Richard Rutter
You’re right to mention line length as something that is overlooked, but on the screen it is not as simple as setting the measure in ems as their are more factors involved (screen size, liquid layouts, etc). Also I’d disagree that web line lengths should be shorter on the web. My personal preference would be for them to be longer – I find short line lengths on screen extremely hard work to read. That’s just my opinion though.
If you think of the reasons for changing text size then zooming a layout is just another form of resizing text and achieves the same goal.