Typefaces for Body Text

This proposal is an extension of the Web Fonts proposal, instead focusing on typefaces used in body texts.

Note: this may fit in to the brand toolkit project as part of codifying our font system.

Problem

Websites in the Mozilla universe often look very different from each other. Granted, these websites all have different goals and purposes. However, by using common typefaces, these different sites could have their unique look, while still be more recognizable as Mozilla sites.

A quick look at the font-family used in various Mozilla controlled websites' CSS files shows that the following typefaces are used: Verdana, Trebuchet MS, Georgia, Arial, Lucida (different families), Cambria, Times New Roman. This list is presumably incomplete, as @font-face defined, and monospaced typefaces were excluded in the sample.

Solution

Agree upon a smaller set of first choice typefaces for body text. Preferably one sans serif, one serif, and one monospace (in addition, one "accent typeface" might be included in the list). By the look of it, the majority of websites that were recently updated visually use Arial as sans serif and Georgia as serif. Monospace typefaces is somewhat different, since only Courier are available on the two major platforms; in this case perhaps the first choices could be Consolas followed by Menlo. In all cases, backup typefaces should be provided, for Linux and for older operating systems that do not include the first choice typefaces.

Proposed font-family series for body text

• Sans serif: Arial, Liberation Sans, Helvetica, sans-serif
• Serif: Georgia, Liberation Serif, Times New Roman, Times, serif
• Monospace: Consolas, Menlo, Liberation Mono, Monaco, Courier, monospace