...and there's your problem. Helvetica and Helvetica Neue both tend to look lousy on the web unless they're used in a graphic (where you get to control kerning and antialiasing) or at a relatively small size (10-14pt equivalent), and then only in Safari for the most part.
There are fonts that are just a little less elegant than the real Helveticas, fonts you wouldn't likely use in a print application, that render a whole lot better in browsers because they were designed for the screen and play with pixels better.
Arial isn't one of my favorites, but it is a proven web font, and whatever else it may be it is certainly a Helvetica rip-off. Use Geneva then a Helvetica as fall-backs.
Verdana makes great sans-serif body copy at small sizes, but it's a bit, um, portly for headings or body copy at large sizes.
Some folks seem to like Tahoma, but I find it makes some weird word-shapes that slow my reading. It's worth a try. Other popular and widely-distributed fonts like Trebuchet, Calibri and Candara work well, but not in a design as sparse as yours (they're too, well, organic to work in a clinical setting).
If you can find it in your heart to go serif (and you should whenever the text gets long), then georgia, garamond, palatino, "palatino linotype", serif; is what you want in almost every case. (Constantia is also pretty and readable, but less likely to be installed than Georgia, and damn Georgia sets well on the web.)
Comments
...and there's your problem. Helvetica and Helvetica Neue both tend to look lousy on the web unless they're used in a graphic (where you get to control kerning and antialiasing) or at a relatively small size (10-14pt equivalent), and then only in Safari for the most part.
There are fonts that are just a little less elegant than the real Helveticas, fonts you wouldn't likely use in a print application, that render a whole lot better in browsers because they were designed for the screen and play with pixels better.
Arial isn't one of my favorites, but it is a proven web font, and whatever else it may be it is certainly a Helvetica rip-off. Use Geneva then a Helvetica as fall-backs.
Verdana makes great sans-serif body copy at small sizes, but it's a bit, um, portly for headings or body copy at large sizes.
Some folks seem to like Tahoma, but I find it makes some weird word-shapes that slow my reading. It's worth a try. Other popular and widely-distributed fonts like Trebuchet, Calibri and Candara work well, but not in a design as sparse as yours (they're too, well, organic to work in a clinical setting).
If you can find it in your heart to go serif (and you should whenever the text gets long), then georgia, garamond, palatino, "palatino linotype", serif; is what you want in almost every case. (Constantia is also pretty and readable, but less likely to be installed than Georgia, and damn Georgia sets well on the web.)