This web page uses inline styles.

Generic Font Families

As you know, you can format text on a web page with a specific font.  But if the web page visitor does not have that particular font on their PC, then the text on the web page will be displayed with the default font on the visitor's PC.

However, there is another alternative for specifying fonts:  generic font families.  A generic font family is a type of font.  For example, some common font families include serif, sans-serif, and monospace.  Here are a few fonts that belong to these families:

Serif:  Times New Roman, Georgia, Times, Palatino
Sans-Serif:  Arial, Verdana, Helvetica
Monospace:  Courier, Fixedsys

Therefore, you might want to format the text by specifying a specific font (such as Arial) along with a generic font family (such as sans-serif).  Then if the visitor's PC doesn't have the specific font, then the text on the web page will be displayed with a font from the generic font family.   

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This page is maintained by Carolyn Dudas
Updated February 27, 2008