news@sun.uucp (news) (07/08/87)
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 87 07:37:22 edt
From: decwrl!decvax!savax!nhqvax::fleischmann
A number of people have recently commented on the readability/non-
readability of right justified text. In siting studies to support
either side, people should remember to determine whether the text used
for the study was generated using true typesetting equipment that
controlled the kerning (space between each character) and intra-word
spacing or some fixed-width printer that justifies by only increasing
the intra-word spacing.
I have seen a number of studies done by people that only used text
generated by fixed-with printers off word-processing systems that tend
to "fragment" a line by putting large gaps between words so that it no
longer reads as a sentence but as a series of individual words. These
documents become very difficult to read.
On the other hand. True typesetting systems can justify by
controlling not only the intra-word spacing but the intra-character
spacing for that line so that the eye does travel from word to word in
a smooth and consistant fashion.
/marc
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Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ
Touch Not the Cat Bot a Glove -- MacIntosh Clan Mottochuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (07/13/87)
From: ames!pyramid!osu-eddie!verber%tut.cis.ohio-state.edu@RUTGERS.EDU (Mark A. Verber)
Date: 10 Jul 87 15:48:23 GMT
Organization: Ohio State University, Computer Science
There was an article in the journal "Human Factors" which appeared sometime
in the last 4 years dealing with the subject of right justified text. The
study had subjects read text in unjustified format, justified using only
inter-word spacing, and text justified on a using real letting and kerning.
The reader preformance was almost identical between the non justified text
and the text done using inter-character spacing. The inter-word spacing
preformance was much worst. As I recall, the reading time increased 60%
and comprehension was down 20% when people had to deal with inter-word
spacing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Science Department Mark A. Verber
The Ohio State University verber@ohio-state.arpa
+1 (614) 292-7344 cbosgd!osu-eddie!verber
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