I was wondering if Arial is truly the safest and most universal font across all browsers. Are there any other fonts that might be better in this regard?
3 Answers
Arial isn’t the safest choice since some Linux distributions don’t include it by default. A better option might be to use the general 'sans-serif' declaration, which will adapt to whatever default font is set in the browser. That way, you’re less likely to run into issues with font availability.
Good point! So, is there a font that is safe across all platforms?
In fact, the safest approach is to not specify a font at all. That said, Times New Roman could be considered a close second to Arial. Keeping it simple with 'font-family: serif' is usually a good bet.
Got it! So going with generic families is generally safer, huh?
Arial isn't the safest font option—it started as more of a Windows-specific font and isn’t always available on every server. The Helvetica family is considered safer, along with Times Roman. Always check the standard HTML font families for web-safe choices!
Thanks for the info! But if Helvetica is safer, why is Verdana listed as standard on W3Schools?
That's interesting! If some Linux distros lack Arial, what fonts do they typically include? I always thought it was standard.