Unit 2: How People Read

Chapter 2: How People Read. This chapter "busted" some myths about type but also emphasized important facts about others.

• All caps isn't necessarily harder to read. Our reading behaviors in society effects the way we see patterns and recognize words. All caps in our society means you're shouting or giving a headline or warning to grab your attention. If our society used all caps more frequently our brains would eventually recognize and learn the pattern.
• Our eyes "read" in a saccade and fixation pattern - we're using our peripheral vision to read ahead and then jump back, all occurring at a very rapid rate.
• Headlines help the reader comprehend what the context of the text means.
• Most readers recognize letters instantly, regardless of their typeface. But using a decorative font attaches meaning to the context and effects the comprehension of the reader. In some cases, this could have a detrimental effect by causing the content to appear difficult.
• Font size matters, regardless of the age of the reader. New fonts, such as Tahoma and Verdana, have larger "x-heights" to make it easier to read on screens. X-height can make a font appear than another even if they're the same font-size.

X-height font comparison

• Computer Screen vs. Paper - I really appreciated the points made about how the light is reflected on screens and paper. But especially appreciated the emphasis on how computer screens are constantly refreshing and it's tiring on the eyes. Interesting to note was that Kindle using "electronic ink" which mimics ink on paper and doesn't refresh. Black text on white background is the best case scenario, white text on a black background is difficult to read.
• Line Length: short vs. long. People prefer multiple columns but research shows that longer sentence length are faster to read because it interrupts our saccade and fixation movement less.