Text

Average adult reading speed 250 wpm

Reading from screen 13% slower
-ve contrast

REMOVING WORD SHAPE CUES
REDUCES SPEED AND ACCURACY
Using sans serif fonts also removes
some of the word shape cues
Sentence Case and Title Case
Sentence case
The use of case (i.e. upper or lower) follows the normal rules
of a sentence in the English language. Specifically, capital
letters are used for the first letter of the first word; proper
nouns; and abbreviations/ acronyms. All other words are
lower case. A full stop is used except in a heading, in which
case the full stop is omitted.
Title case
the first letter of each word is capitalised, the rest are lower
case. Usually short articles, prepositions and conjunctions
are not capitalised.


Serif fonts
Most printed material uses Times New
Roman. This is a serif font (i.e. it has
squiggly bits) and is easy to read on paper.

This is Bookman Old Style, also a
serif font. It can be easier to read on
screen as it is less squashed than
TNR
Sans serif fonts
Using sans serif fonts also removes
some of the word shape cues.
But:
Easier to read on screen
Easier for those with dyslexia

British Dyslexia Association
Fonts should be rounded, allow for
space between letters, reflect ordinary
cursive writing and be 'easy on the eye'.
Look for a font that spaces letters rather
than running them closely together.
Bear in mind that fonts that have
unusual shaped letters can create
difficulties.

Verdana
Verdana is promoted by Microsoft as a
very screen-friendly font and has
therefore become popular with web
designers, but the line spacing is very
tight, reducing the size of the ascenders
and descenders and the legibility for
dyslexic readers.
The quick brown fox jumped over the
lazy dog.
NTU standard

Trebuchet MS
Better is Trebuchet MS, which has
short descenders but reasonably long
ascenders, a small body size and
generous line spacing. We find this
font suits many readers and it is our
first preference.
The quick brown fox jumps over the
lazy dog

Others
Arial
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy
dog. Current studies show this to be easier
to read than Verdana in some
circumstances (e.g. PowerPoint).

Sassoon (letter shapes similar to
handwriting)
Myriad Pro (from Adobe)

Text and background colours
Negative contrast
Dark text, light background
Black or dark blue text
Pale blue, pale grey, pale yellow or cream
background
Positive contrast
Light text, dark background
Glare
Marks



Justification
A justified column can
leave uneven word
spacing, creating
rivers, or vertical white
spacing within the
paragraph. These
rivers cause the eye to
move vertically down
the page, to naturally
connect visually what is
closest in proximity,
instead of easily across
the line of type. This is
particularly a problem
on a screen, as line
lengths tend to be
shorter than in printed
material.

A justified column can
leave uneven word
spacing, creating rivers,
or vertical white spacing
within the paragraph.
These rivers cause the
eye to move vertically
down the page, to
naturally connect visually
what is closest in
proximity, instead of
easily across the line of
type. This is particularly
a problem on a screen,
as line lengths tend to be
shorter than in printed
material.

Menus
Fixed, limited set of options
Types
Pull-down, pop-up
Scrolling, cascading
Organising principles
Conventional
Task requirements
Alphabetical
Frequency
Conventional
Task requirements
Tool menu from
ACDSee
Alphabetical
Frequency
Menu design guidelines
http://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~pancake/cs552/guidelines/menus.html
Directed reading:
a compilation of guidelines from a variety of sources
Paulines top ten#1-5
1. Clear, unambiguous, concise wording
2. Clear organising principle
3. Highlight currently selected option
4. Grey out unavailable options
5. Allow just looking


Paulines top ten#6
grrrr@Microsoft
6. Do NOT remove less frequently
used or unavailable options!
Paulines top ten#7
7. Make navigation clear
Recent items - frequency
Dialogue box
Cascading menu
Paulines top ten#8-10
8. Group similar items using space or
separator
9. Keep destructive options away from
frequently used ones
10. Keep pop-up menus short
Cursors
Text box, frame, button
Captions
Simple
Meaningful
Mixed case
Location
Size
Consistent
Padding

Radio buttons and check boxes
List box and combo box
Listbox
One or many
Text or graphics
Unlimited length
Organisation

Combo box
Drop down
Mutually exclusive
Scrollbars
Affordance?
line
screen
page
slider
quantity
Sliders and spin boxes

Range of data



Type or select


Tooltips
Clarification
Accessibility