4 ms·

I find that columns with smaller width and larger text are far more readable - any text that is the raison d'être for the page should be readable first, with wo

I find that columns with smaller width and larger text are far more readable - any text that is the raison d'être for the page should be readable first, with worries about looking like a "children's book" becoming second concern. “Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” - C.S. Lewis

unicornporn 11y ago
> I find that columns with smaller width and larger text are far more readable The 55-75 CPL seems to stem from research done on readability on paper. 95 CPL seems more apt for the desktop browser when it comes to reading speed. When it comes to overall satisfaction the result is interesting. http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLength.asp http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLeng...
- seanmcdirmid 11y ago
  That article is a bit suspect, since it found the max to be more readable. I would like to see what the curve is really like...how do lengths above 95 CPL begin to get harder to read?
jacobolus 11y ago
I don’t have anything against children’s books; I love children’s books! If the goal is to fit 2 sentences on a page with a big picture and individual letters that are easy to discriminate to help when just learning to read, then large text is a perfectly reasonable part of the design. Large widely spaced text is just not necessarily appropriate for other types of material, where fitting more text on the screen is an important design feature. This is especially relevant when we’re talking about Edward Tufte: Tufte devotes a huge portion of his books to emphasizing that information presentation is improved when more information is presented in a smaller space, to facilitate references and comparisons between different items/sections. “Information wants to be spatially adjacent so as facilitate comparisons made within the common eyespan of the viewer.” As a concrete comparison, here’s what fits in my browser view in this “Tufte CSS” document: http://imgur.com/iLNgoaU http://imgur.com/iLNgoaU Here’s what fits on a page in an Edward Tufte book: http://imgur.com/dTLcDx2 http://imgur.com/dTLcDx2
- gabemart 11y ago
  This is where portrait-orientated displays excel: http://i.imgur.com/D9MfvQN.png http://i.imgur.com/D9MfvQN.png
- oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
  This will obviously depend upon what device you're using, but hold a book up in front of you at about the distance you would typically read it (this should be MUCH closer than your screen!). Now compare the size of the text (admittedly, this is tricky because of focus, but it's just about possible) - the font size in the example is pretty much exactly the same as in a typical book, for me at least. Designers have, for a long time, thought that 'small text is cool/looks better' but there has been a pushback on this by web designers over the past few years. Maybe even HN will one day update its styles for readability; at least a shorter line-length/larger leading would be a great start.

unicornporn 11y ago

> I find that columns with smaller width and larger text are far more readable The 55-75 CPL seems to stem from research done on readability on paper. 95 CPL seems more apt for the desktop browser when it comes to reading speed. When it comes to overall satisfaction the result is interesting. http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLength.asp http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLeng...

seanmcdirmid 11y ago
That article is a bit suspect, since it found the max to be more readable. I would like to see what the curve is really like...how do lengths above 95 CPL begin to get harder to read?

jacobolus 11y ago

I don’t have anything against children’s books; I love children’s books! If the goal is to fit 2 sentences on a page with a big picture and individual letters that are easy to discriminate to help when just learning to read, then large text is a perfectly reasonable part of the design. Large widely spaced text is just not necessarily appropriate for other types of material, where fitting more text on the screen is an important design feature. This is especially relevant when we’re talking about Edward Tufte: Tufte devotes a huge portion of his books to emphasizing that information presentation is improved when more information is presented in a smaller space, to facilitate references and comparisons between different items/sections. “Information wants to be spatially adjacent so as facilitate comparisons made within the common eyespan of the viewer.” As a concrete comparison, here’s what fits in my browser view in this “Tufte CSS” document: http://imgur.com/iLNgoaU http://imgur.com/iLNgoaU Here’s what fits on a page in an Edward Tufte book: http://imgur.com/dTLcDx2 http://imgur.com/dTLcDx2

gabemart 11y ago
This is where portrait-orientated displays excel: http://i.imgur.com/D9MfvQN.png http://i.imgur.com/D9MfvQN.png
oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
This will obviously depend upon what device you're using, but hold a book up in front of you at about the distance you would typically read it (this should be MUCH closer than your screen!). Now compare the size of the text (admittedly, this is tricky because of focus, but it's just about possible) - the font size in the example is pretty much exactly the same as in a typical book, for me at least. Designers have, for a long time, thought that 'small text is cool/looks better' but there has been a pushback on this by web designers over the past few years. Maybe even HN will one day update its styles for readability; at least a shorter line-length/larger leading would be a great start.