Making a Readable Website
August 10 2009
There are some rules about website design that should be adhered to in order to make your website as navigable and readable as possible. The scope of the internet is so vast, the attention span of the average visitor is tiny that you need to make sure it is as quick and easy as possible for your visitor to get the information they need.
This article concerns itself with website text. The words that make meaning from those pretty pictures and menus on the page.
The first rule is; No text line should be wider than 600 pixels.
Magazines and newspapers use column layouts because it makes lines short so you can easily read the text from one sentence to the next. A well designed site will have the text in a similar layout so it is easy to read and navigate. Good publishing rules when using text, whatever the medium, is plenty of white space, short paragraphs and snappy sentences. The website has limited space and limited time to get its message across to its audience. Short, engaging text will help you achieve that.
The second rule is; Make the text easy to read.
Use colors wisely. If you website has a colored background, dark or light, choose a text color that is easily read even at 16 color screen resolution. It is easy to forget that not everyone has the latest computers with LCD widescreens. When designing a site, it has to look good at different resolutions in order to work effectively. It’s hard to read light text on a light background or dark text on a dark one. Choose colors carefully and make sure the contrast between them is enough to make it readable. Never put text over an image or a textured background, it will be really difficult to read.
The third rule is; Ensure the text layout works.
Similar to rule number one, but different. The text on a web page needs to be large enough to read. It is an obvious point to make, but it is important enough that it needs making. Nobody wants to squint at their screen in order to read a page. The absolute minimum text size for any site should be 12pt for paragraph text. Use line spacing to your advantage too. Don’t necessarily plump for single line spacing, play with it a bit until it the text looks right on the page. White spaces makes the text more readable and the page more pleasurable to read.
The last rule is; Grammar and spelling.
Use a spell checker, always. Even if you have a degree in English Literature, use a spell checker. There is nothing that says “amateur” more than a site with spelling mistakes. I write for a living but still use it. Most web designers I know use it. To take this a step further, ensure you use correct grammar. Don’t use all caps, or more than one “!” in a sentence. Make sure you end a sentence with a period and use commas appropriately.
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