We’re developing a site for a client right now and my boss (designer only) is once again making me increase letter-spacing on the text so that it looks ‘prettier’. I am of the firm belief that this often causes eye-strain and hinders readability in body copy, but being the boss, she is of course always ‘right’ until I can provide her with examples showing why she’s wrong (generally pretty easy). In this case, however, I can’t find any articles talking about eye-strain and kerning, so I figured I’d ask what you guys think about the issue of increased letter-spacing in web text.
Take a look at http://sparktoignite.com/allograft/process.php and tell me how you feel about the body copy. We’re using font-embedding, so you’ll only see the proper font in FF, Safari, and Chrome. Let me know what you guys think about the readability and eye-strain caused by the font. My boss currently thinks it’s 100% perfect (she wanted the kerning increased further, but I talked her down luckily).
I generally follow the unwritten rule that it’s ok to play with kerning on headings, but it should be avoided for body copy. In your particular case, I agree that it’s harder to read in general, but I do really like how it makes the compounds (SCCO2) and abbreviations (FDA) look. Maybe this is what your boss likes about it?
Either way, I think you’re right to fight it. A possible compromise could be to add it only on abbreviations and compounds, though that might look a bit jarring if there’s a significant difference. Good luck!