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font size in web pages, is there any advantage to offering different sizes by the website, isn't it really the job of the magnification software?

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From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Jul 28, 2011 7:21AM

Hi all

I've always been curious about this, but since I deal primarily with
screen reader access this has never directly come up. Being blind I am
also slightly disadvantage when it comes to the advantages of screen
magnification.
In Iceland all sites that belong to the local Applica CMS (are made
with the Epplica software, or at least adhere to the associated
standards, which have some accessibility requirements) offer an area
where you can choose the size/look of the page. I believe this is
mostly the font size.
www.tr.is is an example, the local social security admin website ..
look for (útlit síðu), which means, "look of page", same goes for
www.bbi.is etc.
Basically, isn't it redundant to be able to request a larger font from
the web server, isn't it up to your screen magnifier, or browser
settings, to make the font as large, or small, as you want it to be.
I realize this may not apply to graphics and pictures, but I also
doubt that tthe server would provide different size or resolution
graphics based on the page setting (but may be they do).
So if anyone can explain this to me, I would be the wiser.
Are there advantages to giving the user some control over the look of
the page, or should the web developer leave that entirely to the
user's Assistive software and browser settings?
Thanks
-Birkir