Page Content
Margins
For any document, including PowerPoint slides and Web pages, it’s important to leave a margin at the sides to enhance legibility.
Fake Slide – No Margin
Penn State is committed to making its information technology resources accessible to all users, and to meeting the requirements of its settlement with the National Federation of the Blind. This document reports on the activities of Penn State from October 15, 2013 to October 15, 2014 to make its websites, applications, online course materials and learning technologies accessible. It should be read by anyone with a stake in making a Penn State education accessible to everyone regardless of disability.
Line Spacing
Line spacing can also affect legibility, particularly for wider blocks of text. For a very long document, consider either:
- Increasing line spacing beyond single point. Depending on the document 115% to 200% (double spacing) may be useful. See example below.
- Adding padding/white space below each paragraph. This can be done with styles in Word, HTML (CSS) or InDesign
- Traditional use of indenting the first line of a paragraph can also enhance legibility.
Single Space, No Padding Beneath Paragraphs
Penn State is committed to making its information technology resources accessible to all users, and to meeting the requirements of its settlement with the National Federation of the Blind.
This document reports on the activities of Penn State from October 15, 2013 to October 15, 2014 to make its websites, applications, online course materials and learning technologies accessible. It should be read by anyone with a stake in making a Penn State education accessible to everyone regardless of disability.
Spacing Set to ca. 125% with padding
Penn State is committed to making its information technology resources accessible to all users, and to meeting the requirements of its settlement with the National Federation of the Blind.
This document reports on the activities of Penn State from October 15, 2013 to October 15, 2014 to make its websites, applications, online course materials and learning technologies accessible. It should be read by anyone with a stake in making a Penn State education accessible to everyone regardless of disability.
Use More Bullets Online
If text is presented online, consider using more bullets and breaking up text into smaller chunks of text than normal academic text. Readers online tend to scan text more quickly than when reading a printed page, so these conventions help direct reader flow.
Text Formatting
With the exception of headlines or decorative text, it is best to avoid large blocks of italic text, colored text, underlined text, decorative fonts and capitalized letters. These formatting choices can make text difficult to read.
Below are the examples to avoid.
Don’t format Text Blocks Like this
All Italics – An entire block of italic can be hard to read because computer monitors may not render diagonal lines clearly.
All Underlined – Not only is underlined text harder to read, but underlines should only be used to designate a link.
All Colored – Subtle, dark colors can work, but not long passages of brighlty colored text. Too much color can cause eyestrain and may induce migraines.
Light Text on Dark Background
On the Web, most readers prefer to read dark fonts on a lighter background
All Decorative Font – Reading times for unusual fonts are much slower, and display technologies may affect visibility.
All Caps – TESTS SHOW THAT READERS RELY ON CUES FROM LOWERCASE ASCENDERS & DESCENDERS….PLUS, CAPITALIZATION IS EQUATED TO "SHOUTING" ON THE WEB.
Justified Text – Justified text (alignment on both the left and right margins) is currently not recommended because the justification algorithm could cause large space gaps.
See image below for an example badly justified text.
