The Pros and Cons of Different Font Units in CSS

As frontend developers, choosing the right font size for our designs is essential. CSS provides several units for measuring font sizes, each with its own pros and cons. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the different font units available in CSS, their advantages and disadvantages, and the recommended unit to use.

Font Unit: Pixel (px)

Pixel (px) is the most common unit for defining font sizes in CSS. It’s an absolute unit, meaning that it has a fixed size on all devices. 1px is equal to one dot on the screen, so a font size of 16px will always appear as 16 dots, regardless of the screen size or resolution.

Pros:

• Consistency: Pixels provide a consistent and reliable font size across all devices.
• Control: Pixels give you precise control over the font size, making it easy to match designs exactly.

Cons:

• Poor accessibility: Pixels can be too small for users with visual impairments, who may need to increase the font size to read your content.
• No scaling: Pixels don’t scale with the user’s preference or device. For example, if a user increases their text size in the browser, text defined with pixels will not be affected.