Web Quality -Readability


Proper use of fonts and colors can make your website easier to read.


Pay attention to color contrast

For people with poor eyesight or for poor display devices, white text on a black background or black text on a white background is the best.

Gray text on a light background has poor contrast:

Grey text on a white background (#EEEEEE)
Grey text on a white background (#CCCCCC)
Grey text on a white background (#AAAAAA)
Grey text on a white background (#888888)
Grey text on a white background (#666666)
Grey text on a white background (#444444)
Grey text on a white background (#222222)
Grey text on a white background (#111111)

Gray text on a dark background also has poor contrast:

Grey text on a black background (#222222)
Grey text on a black background (#444444)
Grey text on a black background (#666666)
Grey text on a black background (#888888)
Grey text on a black background (#AAAAAA)
Grey text on a black background (#CCCCCC)
Grey text on a black background (#DDDDDD)
Grey text on a black background (#EEEEEE)

Certain combinations - such as black and red, black and blue, yellow and green - can cause visual fatigue:

Black text on a red background
 
Black text on a blue background
 
Yellow text on a green background

These combinations are not bad:

Black text on a grey background
 
Black text on a light blue
 
Black text on antique white
 
White text on dark blue


Pay attention to letter spacing

For readers with weak eyesight, too close letter spacing can cause considerable reading difficulty.

Text with moderate letter spacing is easier to read.

Text with too little letter spacing is hard to read.


Be careful with your line spacing

The following line spacing is easy to read

Text with good line spacing
is easier to read

The following line spacing is hard to read

Text with small line spacing
is hard to read


Avoid fancy fonts

This font is easy to read....

This font is hard to read....


Use italics sparingly

Ordinary fonts are easy to read.

Italic fonts are not so easy to read.

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