In general, pages on the Internet are not read word by
word, but are scanned looking for words that catch the attention and facilitate
the text's general idea or main concept. If this is achieved, it is only then
that the text is carefully read.
Since we read from left to right and from top to bottom
(at least in the Western world), the expected alignment is to the left. When
reading a text on the Internet, this is precisely the direction the reader's
eyes look while searching for the beginning of each line. This is the
recommended alignment in all the texts I have consulted.
(I recommend The Element of Typographic Style by Robert
Bringhurst, http://www.evsc.k12.in.us/icats/tool/webdesign/design.htm, http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/typeonscreen/, http://www.stthomas.edu/webauthor/Page_Design/typography.htm)
The justified text is not recommended for the Internet
since the present technology does not support it well. Justification causes
uneven spacing between words that makes reading difficult and needs to be
manually edited for correct alignment. Clusters of spaces are formed on the
uniform, symmetric, boring and uninviting text blocks. Some studies say it is
difficult to find specific information when the text has this type of alignment.
A centered or right alignment makes the reader's eyes jump
from left to right at every line looking for the beginning of the text, making
the text's reading and navigation difficult.
The same applies to titles; the best way is to have
titles, page headers, etc., aligned to the left. It is the best option to
facilitate reading and scanning of information on a Web page.
Justified
Right Central Left
Line Width
The available width for text on a Web page is greater than
the one generally used on books and magazines. The text columns on books and
magazines are narrow since they are usually read in 3-inch-wide word blocks
(7.62 cm 216 pixels). If the lines are wider, a slight head movement or tensing
of the eye muscles is required to follow the text line without losing the
meaning. In addition, long lines cause the reader to skip lines when trying to
find the next line to the left.
To achieve this, it is recommended to create tables with
50 to 60 characters per line of text. The following are the recommendations when
using 10-point Verdana as our font type and size:
| Detail |
In GeneXus |
|
Without border |
Border=0 |
|
Width between 200 and 365
pixels |
Width=216 |
Following these suggestions, we use a full paragraph from
the text in order to fit in the recommended 3-inch width.
On our next issue we will continue learning about
fonts.