Quadrille - 11:14 am on Jun 27, 2006 (gmt 0)

Get a few people to do test readings, using a variety of fonts. Some are quite clear at smaller sizes, others are a pain.

If you really do not people to read your pages, you'll probably find it cheaper to simply close the site ;)

But seriously, page appearance does matter; readers don't want something they can just about read - they want a page design that is comfortable and welcoming, not agoraphobic.