Legal page typography
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy pages that are readable, trustworthy, and on-brand.
Core principles
Readability first
16px minimum body text. 1.75 line-height. Max 72 characters per line. No wall-of-text paragraphs.
Clear hierarchy
Three heading levels max. Section numbers optional. Generous whitespace between clauses.
Trust signals
Last-updated date prominent. Version history link. Plain-English summaries before legalese.
Brand consistency
Violet accents for links and dividers. Dark background reduces eye strain on long reads.
Layout structure
Effective date banner — sticky or top-of-page, subtle violet background
Table of contents — collapsible sidebar on desktop, accordion on mobile
Section numbering — optional but helpful for cross-references (1.1, 1.2...)
Plain-English callouts — italic summaries in gray before each dense clause
Footer CTA — single link back to dashboard or support, never a sales pitch
Typography spec
| Element | Size | Weight | Color |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page title | 2rem / 32px | Bold (700) | white |
| Section heading | 1.5rem / 24px | Semibold (600) | white |
| Subsection | 1.125rem / 18px | Medium (500) | #F472B6 |
| Body text | 1rem / 16px | Regular (400) | #9CA3AF |
| Fine print | 0.8125rem / 13px | Regular (400) | #6B7280 |
| Inline links | inherit | Medium (500) | #8B5CF6 |
Anti-patterns
ALL-CAPS paragraphs — unreadable and aggressive
Tiny gray text on white — accessibility failure
No table of contents — users can't find relevant sections
Buried last-updated date — erodes trust
Marketing CTAs inside legal pages — looks predatory
Pro tip: Generate your legal pages from markdown stored in a CMS or flat files. This keeps lawyers happy and lets you apply consistent styling across all documents. See the markdown rendering recipe for implementation.