Reading Response: Williams

I always knew I was annoyed when People Capitalized Words for No Reason in the Middle of Sentences.

I also knew that I hated when people WROTE ME E-MAILS IN ALL CAPS.

But I never knew why I disliked these things; I assumed it was because it was simply obnoxious--now, however, I realize that it's more than me thinking those are annoying things to do. I dislike them because they are more difficult to read. There is a science behind it!

What I gathered from the readings on readability and legibility are that things are intrinsically more readable and legible due to the font face, the size, and the spacing. The reason that CAPS are difficult to read is because we recognize words by their shapes--and a word in all CAPS has a shape of a rectangle. Therefore, we have to comb through each word, letter-by-letter, until we recognize it and can move in. This adds time to our reading process.

A similar thing happens when we read sentences written in Title Case, because our brains are not accustomed to reading in that manner.

I was also surprised to learn that this font, Courier, is less legible (and less readable). This font looks very reminiscent of the font used on old fashioned typewriters. Typewriters were used for several years, so I wonder why the standard type would be one that is now criticized for its legibility and readability.

It is fascinating the things we learn about how our brains absorb information by studying typefaces. I always figured these things were simply preference--some people like these types of fonts, other likes these. Now I know there is much more to it. I have already started noticing the difference between headlines and body text, sans serif and serif. Studying this is quite scientific and quite psychological!