Changing the size of text using html
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Using
Size
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Using Size plus |
Using
Size minus
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Using
Heading
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size 1
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size +1 |
size -7
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Heading 6 |
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size 2
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size +2 |
size -6
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Heading 5 |
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(default) size 3
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size +3 |
size -5
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Heading 4 |
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size 4
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size +4 |
size -4
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Heading 3 |
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size 5
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size +5 |
size -3
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Heading 2 |
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size 6
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size +6 |
size -2
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Heading 1 |
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size 7
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size +7 |
size -1
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(there is no Heading 7)
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Headings are set using the format box rather than the size box. Confusingly they work the other way from text size, with Heading 1 being as big as it can be, and the rest getting progressively smaller as they descend to Heading 6. There is no Heading 7. Headings also embolden the text. They are useful for partially sighted and blind computer users as the Heading tags are read with more emphasis by their special software than type which has just been enlarged using one of the other methods detailed above.
Explaining size plus or minus
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Using
Size plus or minus
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Resulting
Size
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(size 3)
-2, -3, -4,
-5, -6, -7
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= size 1
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(size 3)
-1
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= size 2
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none
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= (default) size 3
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(size 3)
+1
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= size 4
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(size 3)
+2
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= size 5
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(size 3)
+3
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= size 6
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(size 3)
+4, +5,
+6, +7
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= size 7
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Default size (size 'none') is usually size 3. Your readers can alter the default value from 3 to make it larger or smaller depending on their preference, maybe for reasons of eyesight or monitor size.
Using the
size box gives an absolute value, but using the plus or minus values gives
a relative value depending on the users default setting. When you use
size plus, you add the value to the default size of (probably)
3.
Absolute size cannot be less than 1 or more than 7, so results of 8, 9
or 10 are shown as 7.
You get the same results for (default 3) + 4 = size 7
as you do for (default 3) + 7 = size 10 giving result of size 7.
Size
minus works the same way, in reverse.
If you start with the small default of size 3:
(default 3) - 1 = size 2
(default 3) - 2 = size 1
(default 3) - 3 = size 0, gives a result of size 1, as does all the rest
of the minus values of -4, -5, -6 and -7.
If the default size set by your reader is different, then the sizes will differ from the above table, but the hierarchy of sizes should at least remain consistent. That is, subheadings at +2 will be +2 larger than the main body of default text.
If default
text is size 3, the subheads will be (default 3) + 2 = size 5
If default text is size 4, the subheads will be (default 4) + 2 = size
6
No matter what size the default is set to, the actual size cannot vary beyond the absolute values of 1 through to 7. In the extreme case of someone setting the default to an enormous 7, then all the plus values will result in similar 7s, but the minus values will be visibly different down to 7 - 6 giving size 1.
Other Sizing Methods
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), HTML tags and using pictures of text as .gif files will be the subject of further pages.
'Think different' Mac and PC font sizes
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