quoting (with an aside elipsed out) from w3c:
The sole criterion of a monospace font is that all glyphs have the same fixed width.... The effect is similar to a manual typewriter, and is often used to set samples of computer code.

I don't know that that fully backs the apparent intent of your observation re "no distinction between serif and sans-serif...." In fact, I found nothing that tells me that a monospace sans-serif is impossible/non-existant (but on the other hand I conceed, I have not found a monospace sans-serif yet, let alone one which is cross-platform, commonly available, and free.).

As for "more appropriately a user concern" I offer another view: that fonts are a design element and that good design makes the rendered matter easy for the visitor to read. (Update My reading suggests a general agreement today that sans-serif is -- on screen -- more readable, more readily comprehended, than serif, while the reverse may be true when presented on dead trees. </update>) Further, it's a non-intrusive design element, since the knowledgeable user can easily use a local stylesheet to override any element which obstructs comprehension.

For (perhaps excess) clarity: It seems to me that there is NO contradiction or inconsistency between my observation re the user's ability to spec a different face and my notion that the designer has an duty to make comprehension easy.


In reply to Re^2: revise font? by ww
in thread revise font? by ww

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":



  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.