Some simple changes can make a big difference.
65% of people between 18 and 60 wear some form of corrective eyewear. Almost everyone over 60 needs glasses for reading. So it makes sense to make posters, leaflets, and brochures easy for everyone to read.
1. Left-justify the text as much as you can.
Centred text makes the reader work to find the start of the next line, because it’s not directly below the last one.
Fully justified or right-margin justified (straight down both sides) looks neat, but the spaces between the words are different on each line. The ‘big step, little step’ disjointedness is uncomfortable for many people. The spaces between the words can also draw the eye for some people, so they look at the ‘rivers of white’ the spaces make, and struggle to read the words at all.
Left-justified text has the same space between all the words and the same place to start each line. It’s predictable and relaxing.
2. Use a sans serif font – one that is plain, without the little tails on the letters.
If people find reading difficult, the tails can make words run together, and can also make it hard to distinguish different letters: ‘i’ and ‘t’ become more similar when i has a tail, for example.
3. Have a good contrast between the text and the background.
Bear in mind that
- White text on a dark background is harder to read than dark text on a light background
- Text over patterns and pictures is harder still to read.
- Black text on pale yellow or pale blue can be very helpful for people with reading difficulties.
Avoid red text. To you, it may look dramatic, and give a fine contrast against that black background, but more than one in every 12 people has a colour vision issue, and 10% of people are dyslexic. Of those, a percentage will either see red as black (so there’s no contrast at all) or will find red text (or text on a red background) actively uncomfortable to read.
4. Avoid SHOUTING – and not just because it’s rude.
People read by recognising the shapes of words: ‘cape’, ‘care’, ‘cake’ are all shaped differently, so you recognise them instantly. Write them in capitals, however, and they’re all shaped the same (CAPE, CARE, CAKE). Think of the shape of ‘the’ – very different to THE.
The more text you have in capitals, the harder it is for people to work out the meaning. Put capital letters only on proper nouns, and allow people to recognise word-shapes: then they can work out quickly and easily what your message is.
Because people recognise lowercase letters more easily than capital letters, motorway signs have used upper and lowercase letters since 1958.
People with perfect vision won’t be put off your text by finding it easy to read!
Get in touch if you’d like me to help make your text work harder to achieve your business goals.