Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, an e-commerce consultant, did a series of tests
in 2001. He also came to the conclusion that the sans-serif fonts are
more suited to the computer screen.
Some of the highlights of the test results were that at 12 points,
respondents showed a preference for Arial over Verdana – 53% to 43%
(with 4% not being able to distinguish between the two).
Two-thirds of respondents found that Verdana at 12 points was too
large for body text, but Verdana at 10 points was voted more readable
than Arial at 10 points by a 2 to 1 margin.
In conclusion, for the best font readability, use Arial 12 point or
Verdana at 10 points and 9 points for body text. For headlines, he
suggests using larger bold Verdana.
