A carefully chosen ratio for sizing type for information hierarchies establishes logical relationships between heading, sub-heading, and body text levels.
Recommended Scaling
The optimal scaling factor falls between 1.2 and 1.5, creating proportional size relationships across different text hierarchy levels.
Base Size Considerations
The foundational font size is paramount. A base that is excessively small becomes unreadable when screens shrink, while an oversized base causes layout problems during enlargement, including:
- Comprehension difficulties at reduced scales
- Word breaks may occur, text in frames will become truncated at larger scales
- Navigation and reading order disruption
- Button text disappearing or becoming obscured
Design Recommendation
Designers should base their page design on scaling and attempt to control their layouts so that the hierarchy, reading order, and navigation do not become compromised when scaled to at least 150%.
This approach ensures responsive, accessible typography across all viewport sizes.