I'm going to have the most unpopular opinion of all. Just hear me out.
I'm comfortable with the Tropo schemes. I don't adjust my browser font out of necessity. Dreamwidth especially has taken to measuring their site design with em. It's a measuring system that adjusts with font size. It's similar to saying I want this margin to be 20%, but if you take your font size up or down - this adjusts to fill the page. It's supposed to give the same visual feel across the entire site no matter your font size. Things are supposed to adjust depending on your preference.
It means that while everyone sees the same site, it's not all at the same size.
Personally, I do not like everything on a site being measured with em, but I've come to adjust to this on Dreamwidth. I like my font size on the smaller size - close to a classic 12pt (because I like it to feel like a page of paper, and browsers generally start out at 16) or even down to a 10pt, so the Tropo scheme is absolutely perfect for me. It's also the closest that matches the size that Google is using.
Now, my problem with changing the schemes to 1em is that everything will become size 16 and absolutely huge. It doesn't just change the font size of the site. It changes everything in proportion.
If people didn't use em measurements for the sizes of the visual elements and adjusting the browser font size only changed the font, I'd have no problem raising or lowering the number in my browser. The problem is the world doesn't generally do that. In fact, most sites (while being slightly inaccessible to others and making them use the ridiculous zoom tool) have standard font sizes of the little AAA to adjust their font and a cookie to remember it). People like things right out of the box to work. If I shrink my font size on my browser, other sites get unreadable font and smaller in the process. Things become unreadable elsewhere. I can't adjust my sizes on Dreamwidth without changing the rest of the internet for this site, because it's the only site that inconveniences me this way.
My other concern is change. Tropo has been fine for many users for several years, and there are other schemes out there that use larger fonts. I'm not opposed to everyone getting to use Tropo, so I suggest something else, but for the purpose of the suggestion, I voted no.
My suggestion is to make a Tropo (Large) scheme with a 1em font, and leave the other Tropo schemes alone.
For a visual example, let's just say I adjust the current site scheme down from my browser's default. If I understand correctly, this is what the complaint is about:
Browser Default (Firefox) 16:
Browser Adjusted (Firefox) 12:
So basically, if you've adjusted your font and changed all your website fonts to be different (or think you have because not every website out there uses em), you'll be seeing the second one. If you've left it as is then you're seeing the first.
I don't change my browser, because then I would see a lot of important sites - like my bank account - become the second one. If that's an easier explanation, then I hope the visual helps. So I hope you'll consider the suggestion that you might just add a second size option to the two Tropo themes.
no subject
I'm comfortable with the Tropo schemes. I don't adjust my browser font out of necessity. Dreamwidth especially has taken to measuring their site design with em. It's a measuring system that adjusts with font size. It's similar to saying I want this margin to be 20%, but if you take your font size up or down - this adjusts to fill the page. It's supposed to give the same visual feel across the entire site no matter your font size. Things are supposed to adjust depending on your preference.
It means that while everyone sees the same site, it's not all at the same size.
Personally, I do not like everything on a site being measured with em, but I've come to adjust to this on Dreamwidth. I like my font size on the smaller size - close to a classic 12pt (because I like it to feel like a page of paper, and browsers generally start out at 16) or even down to a 10pt, so the Tropo scheme is absolutely perfect for me. It's also the closest that matches the size that Google is using.
Now, my problem with changing the schemes to 1em is that everything will become size 16 and absolutely huge. It doesn't just change the font size of the site. It changes everything in proportion.
If people didn't use em measurements for the sizes of the visual elements and adjusting the browser font size only changed the font, I'd have no problem raising or lowering the number in my browser. The problem is the world doesn't generally do that. In fact, most sites (while being slightly inaccessible to others and making them use the ridiculous zoom tool) have standard font sizes of the little AAA to adjust their font and a cookie to remember it). People like things right out of the box to work. If I shrink my font size on my browser, other sites get unreadable font and smaller in the process. Things become unreadable elsewhere. I can't adjust my sizes on Dreamwidth without changing the rest of the internet for this site, because it's the only site that inconveniences me this way.
My other concern is change. Tropo has been fine for many users for several years, and there are other schemes out there that use larger fonts. I'm not opposed to everyone getting to use Tropo, so I suggest something else, but for the purpose of the suggestion, I voted no.
My suggestion is to make a Tropo (Large) scheme with a 1em font, and leave the other Tropo schemes alone.
For a visual example, let's just say I adjust the current site scheme down from my browser's default. If I understand correctly, this is what the complaint is about:
Browser Default (Firefox) 16:
Browser Adjusted (Firefox) 12:
So basically, if you've adjusted your font and changed all your website fonts to be different (or think you have because not every website out there uses em), you'll be seeing the second one. If you've left it as is then you're seeing the first.
I don't change my browser, because then I would see a lot of important sites - like my bank account - become the second one. If that's an easier explanation, then I hope the visual helps. So I hope you'll consider the suggestion that you might just add a second size option to the two Tropo themes.