Organisation - November 18, 2010

Letter to the editor. Font frustrations

Text:: Gastredacteur

Until recently, it was possible to set your own default font in Word. However, the new corporate image rules mean every member of staff now has to start new Word documents with Verdana 8.5 as the default font.

For me at any rate, this means in practice that every time I open a new document I start typing enthusiastically, then halfway through the first line I realize 'Oh yes, it's that ridiculously small Verdana font'. Then I have to select the text, change the font and carry on further. After that, I have to watch out every time I copy and paste because otherwise before you know it some Verdana text has resurfaced in your document.
I am all for a corporate image but it should be for documents being sent outside the organization. 99 per cent of my documents are for internal use. Letters go via the secretarial office, which scrupulously ensures everything complies with the corporate image.
I feel that the corporate image committee's desire for control has gone too far in the case of Word documents. I don't much like the prospect of having to change the font in every single Word document until the day I retire. A number of colleagues I have spoken to share my irritation totally. This also means substantial costs due to wasted working hours if you add up the time for all the WUR staff.
Peter Hendriksen, Rikilt researcher
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