bodyText

Body text, or body copy, is the main block of narrative or informational text on a page. It carries the primary message and is designed for sustained reading. It is distinguished from headings, captions, and marginal notes, which provide structure and context but do not form the core narrative.

Typographic choices for body text emphasize legibility. In print, body text typically uses 9–12 point type with a comfortable line length of about 45–75 characters per line and a line height around 1.4–1.6. In digital contexts, font sizes are scaled by the viewport; common desktop body text is near 16 pixels. Serif typefaces are traditional for print, while sans-serif are common on screens; the final choice depends on purpose and audience.

Design considerations focus on readability and rhythm. Paragraphs should be clearly separated, with appropriate margins and spacing. Avoid excessive hyphenation and keep widows and orphans under control. Alignment is usually left-aligned or left-aligned with ragged right edges to reduce visual rivers of whitespace.

In web and app design, body text is controlled through style rules that apply to the main content container. CSS properties such as font-family, font-size, line-height, color, and letter-spacing determine its appearance. Accessibility guidelines advocate sufficient contrast, scalable text, and semantic markup to support assistive technologies and responsive layouts.