1. Do not manually adjust text size for section headers and subheaders – use the proper heading tags instead.
  2. Avoid using fonts smaller than 9 points/9 pixels as they will become illegible on the Mac platform.
  3. Avoid specifying absolute font-sizes unless absolutely necessary; otherwise zooming may be disabled for low vision users.
  4. Use font faces which are more favorable for computer screens such as Verdana, Tahoma, Lucida Grande, Arial, or Georgia.
  5. Avoid underlined text except for links. Users unfamiliar with Web conventions may click on any underlined text.
  6. Avoid using italic text except for short passages or when academic convention calls for it. Italics is particularly difficult to read on a monitor; in some cases, bold face can be used in place of italics.
  7. Generally use dark colored fonts on light backgrounds instead of the reverse since these are more readable.
  8. Whenever possible, use external cascading style sheets instead of the FONT FACE tag or inline style specifications (i.e. avoid <p style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif" >). This allows users with certain visual problems to replace your stylesheets with their own custom style sheets tailored for their needs.
  9. Avoid blinking text as it could trigger epileptic seizures in some users and is generally very distracting.
    WCAG Guideline 2.3. — Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures.
    WCAG Guideline 2.3.1 — Web pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period, or the flash is below the general flash and red flash thresholds.
  10. Avoid entire text blocks of italic text, colored text, underlined text, decorative fonts and capitalized letters. These formatting choices can make text difficult to read.
  11. The use of STRONG and EM tags for B and I is generally encouraged by the standards and accessibility community.

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