# Could we change the default font?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-change-the-default-font/409969>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [June 29, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-change-the-default-font/409969 "2007-06-29T20:53:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-change-the-default-font/409969/61 "2007-08-02T15:23:03Z")

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In my experience, the only people who find all-caps easier to read are the sort of people that trace the line with their finger and move their lips while doing so.

Anyone that can read at a reasonable speed reads the shapes of most words, rather than looking at each letter individually. THIS IS PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DO WHEN THE TEXT IS ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-change-the-default-font/409969/62 "2007-08-02T15:36:05Z")

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Webdings would make a lot of posts more readable IMHO.

Mathematicians, on the other hand, might prefer Symbol.

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**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-change-the-default-font/409969/63 "2007-08-02T18:48:53Z")

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[QUOTE=Colophon]  
Anyone that can read at a reasonable speed reads the shapes of most words, rather than looking at each letter individually. THIS IS PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DO WHEN THE TEXT IS ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS.  
[/QUOTE]  
From my own experience, a lot of that is just what someone is accustomed to. I suspect the difference would be less if almost everything we read was in uppercase.

Here’s what one person says about [Serif vs. Sans-Serif on Computer Screens](http://usability.about.com/od/visualdesign/qt/serifvssans.htm).

> [@](#):
>
> The low resolution of computer screens (compared to print) means that serif fonts render badly at small sizes (usually below 7-8 points). Sans-serif fonts render more cleanly at these resolutions since they have less fine detail, and should be used for any small text that is meant to be read on a computer screen, even for large blocks of text.

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**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-change-the-default-font/409969/64 "2007-08-03T17:53:29Z")

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Maybe it’s just my age showing but I have trouble seeing ANYTHING in 7-8 point type regardless of the source! Sheesh, that’s small.

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