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There is some information here about what font to use for different
applications. The research is divided about whether serif or sans serif is
better for online. The last I read, preferences varied widely by age group,
which was interesting. The most important thing to pay attention to for
online use is if the fonts have been designed for use on-screen. The
Microsoft typography site provides some information about that.
Online documentation or Web sites traditionally use sans-serif fonts. This
is because of the screen resolution, and the "dot" issue for displays. If
you look at the Typography site, they have some diagrams and illustrations
that show that a serifed font can be "jaggy" online. But, again, they do
have serif fonts that are designed for on-screen use, such as Georgia. I
personally prefer sans-serif fonts for online use, and find them easier to
read. I am one of those "older" users though, who needs reading glasses now
:-)
For printed documentation, most research leans toward using serif fonts to
increase readability. There are more visual cues with a serif font that can
make letter and word processing faster for the reader. In some environments,
though, the users are so used to seeing a sans-serif font like Arial that it
could be more distracting to change the typeface than to go with what they
are used to. This is particularly true in engineering evironments.
The STC Usability SIG may have some information: http://www.stcsig.org/usability/index.html
I rely on the STC most heavily because the information they provide is
usually based on scientific research and not just someone's opinion or
personal likes and dislikes.
I do have some research, but I will have to look for it. I will check and
send you what I can find for references. Human Factors for Technical
Communicators (Coe, Marlana) has some information about this as well, and is
research based. My copy is a bit old, and I am not sure if there is an
updated version, but it's still a good reference.
I hope this helps you!
--PT
On 7/19/07, Mary Elaine Lora <mlora -at- fugro-jason -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Do you use serif or sans-serif fonts for (1) printed documentation and (2)
> online documentation (i.e., PDF files)? Can you give me links to
> authoritative articles on the readability of serif vs sans-serif? A
> Google
> search turned up thousands of sites with conflicting opinions/research.
> Whom
> do you feel is the real authority on this issue?
>
> --
> PT
> pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com
>
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