Readability is a very important quality for any website. In order for the content and text of the site to have an impact on visitors, they must first be able to read it without trouble. Reading from a screen can be challenging in many situations, so this is not as small of an issue as it may seem.
In this article we'll look at six keys to designing for readability. Keep these points in mind and your content will be much more effective.
Spacing and Alignment
If you want the text of your site to have an impact and to be noticed, make good use of spacing. Rather than using a lot of text in small areas, space it out and keep it uncluttered. The space around text will have a huge impact on the level of readability.
Whitespace around blocks of text and images is key, as is line spacing. Give your text plenty of room to breathe and don't try to cram too much in to any area.
Font Size
Not everyone prefers to read fonts of the same size. People with poor vision typically like larger fonts because it prevents straining of the eyes, but others may prefer to read smaller text. Styling your text in percentages or ems instead of pixels will allow visitors to use their browser to change the text size.
Font size is also key for making important text stand out. However, use this technique sparingly as the less you use it the more impact it will have.
Font Selection
Unlike when you are working with print design, in web design there are a relatively small number of web-safe fonts. If you use other fonts your visitors may not be able to see it as you have it designed. There are ways around this through things like sIFR that allow you to replace fonts.
You can easily damage the readability of a site by using too many different fonts. No more than two or three fonts should be used on a page in oder to have some consistency.
Width of Text Lines
Even though a high percentage of internet users are using widescreen displays with high resolution, lines of text that are too wide can have negative impacts on readability.
Keep in mind when designing that very wide or long lines of text can be difficult to read, as can very short or narrow lines of text. Most content areas are not wider than 600-700 pixels, because anything can larger can get rather difficult to read.
Bold Text
Bold text can obviously be very effective for helping text to stand out, but it should be used in moderation. Overuse of bold, or italics for that matter, can decrease the level of readability and it will lose its impact.
Distractions
Text can only have an impact when there aren't other things distracting the visitors attention. Using less in your design will help to keep the focus on the text, and only use text that has a purpose.
In this article we'll look at six keys to designing for readability. Keep these points in mind and your content will be much more effective.
Spacing and Alignment
If you want the text of your site to have an impact and to be noticed, make good use of spacing. Rather than using a lot of text in small areas, space it out and keep it uncluttered. The space around text will have a huge impact on the level of readability.
Whitespace around blocks of text and images is key, as is line spacing. Give your text plenty of room to breathe and don't try to cram too much in to any area.
Font Size
Not everyone prefers to read fonts of the same size. People with poor vision typically like larger fonts because it prevents straining of the eyes, but others may prefer to read smaller text. Styling your text in percentages or ems instead of pixels will allow visitors to use their browser to change the text size.
Font size is also key for making important text stand out. However, use this technique sparingly as the less you use it the more impact it will have.
Font Selection
Unlike when you are working with print design, in web design there are a relatively small number of web-safe fonts. If you use other fonts your visitors may not be able to see it as you have it designed. There are ways around this through things like sIFR that allow you to replace fonts.
You can easily damage the readability of a site by using too many different fonts. No more than two or three fonts should be used on a page in oder to have some consistency.
Width of Text Lines
Even though a high percentage of internet users are using widescreen displays with high resolution, lines of text that are too wide can have negative impacts on readability.
Keep in mind when designing that very wide or long lines of text can be difficult to read, as can very short or narrow lines of text. Most content areas are not wider than 600-700 pixels, because anything can larger can get rather difficult to read.
Bold Text
Bold text can obviously be very effective for helping text to stand out, but it should be used in moderation. Overuse of bold, or italics for that matter, can decrease the level of readability and it will lose its impact.
Distractions
Text can only have an impact when there aren't other things distracting the visitors attention. Using less in your design will help to keep the focus on the text, and only use text that has a purpose.
About the Author:
Steven Snell is a web designer and blogger from New Jersey. He maintains a design blog called DesignM.ag. If you'd like to see more about text and fonts you can find collections at his blog of calligraphy fonts and headline fonts.