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Subject:Re: Favorite/Recommended Fonts --Oops From:Peter Martin <peterm -at- FOXBORO -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Tue, 6 Apr 1999 15:13:00 +1000
At 14:52 6/04/99 +1000, I wrote:
>Steve:
>
>At 16:46 2/04/99 -0800, in TECHWR-L, you wrote:
>>A couple of clients have asked me if there have been any surveys/studies
>>concerning the best fonts and font sizes to use in user manuals, for
>>body text and for headings. I'm not aware of any myself. Has anyone
>>heard of such a survey or research?
>>
>
>You'll find a few people have "sort of heard" about surveys
>which say readers "prefer" or "like" sans serif body type styles...
>I see you've got a few responses this way already...
>
>I've yet to find someone actually citing repeatable
>research which suggests that sans serif typeface in large
>grabs of body text gives superior comprehension, compared
>with serif fonts. I keep seeing reports saying people
>saying they vaguely recall once reading that sans serif
>fonts were O.K... and readers of some kind or another "liked" them.
>
>On the other hand, "Type and Layout" by Colin Wheildon, (Strathmoor
>Press, Inc March 1995), reprinted several times, cites research showing
>that sans serif body typeface yields up 3-5 times the level of
>comprehension in group testing compared with sans serif body typeface.
>
....
When actually, I meant:
"that serif body typeface yields up to 3-5 times the level of
comprehension in group testing compared with sans serif body typeface"..
--
Peter Martin, Contract Tech. Writer peterm -at- foxboro -dot- com -dot- au
+61 2 9818 5094 (home) 0408 249 113 (mobile) peterm -at- zeta -dot- org -dot- au
