RE: Typeface for print and online documentation

Subject: RE: Typeface for print and online documentation
From: "Brierley, Sean" <Sean -at- Quodata -dot- Com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 15:42:17 -0400

Surely, the question is not what you *like* but to figure out which is more
effective in communicating text. That is, don't ask what somebody *likes*
but give them something to read and measure whether sans-serif gains you any
comprehension or readability over serif.

Cheers,

Sean<br>
sean -at- quodata -dot- com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lisa Bronson [SMTP:Lisa -dot- Bronson -at- ipaper -dot- com]
>
> As far as print documentation: when I was in college at Mankato State
> University, we were taught that serif fonts, like Times, were proven
> through extensive research to be easier to read.
>
> However, I did some casual studies on my own in my first tech writing job
> (after I tried to get them to change from Arial to Times, based on that
> research, and got shot down... ha ha), and almost everyone I asked
> preferred sans serif fonts, like Arial, over serif fonts. One woman who
> worked in assembly said that the serif fonts were too light, and that made
> them more difficult to read. I asked one of my professors about these
> results, and she said that the research we were taught about was old (20
> years at the time, 25 now). Things change, I guess. :-)

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