Effect of typeface, letter case and position on recognition of short words presented on-screen. Issue 6 (2nd June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pušnik, Nace; Možina, Klementina; Podlesek, Anja
• Is Part Of: Behaviour & information technology. Volume 35:Issue 6(2016)
• Page Start: 442
• Page End: 451
• Publication Date: 2016-06-02
• Subjects: Cognition -- legibility -- reading time -- typography -- usability testing; Electronic data processing -- Periodicals; Human engineering -- Periodicals; Information technology -- Periodicals; 303.4833
• DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2016.1158318
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0144-929X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In television broadcasting, there are no general rules about the implementation of various short inscriptions that accompany video image and provide additional information for the viewer. Therefore, we wanted to study what combination of typeface, letter case and position should be used for an on-screen presentation when fast recognition of a text is required. The present study investigated the minimum time required for recognising three-letter words presented in bold style on the screen in different experimental conditions. The typeface Georgia showed better legibility than Verdana, Calibri, Trebuchet and Swiss 721. Upper case letters were recognised faster compared to sentence and lower case letters. The recognition times were shorter for upper on-screen positions compared to the lower ones. The resulting combinations of text properties that are processed faster thus seem more appropriate for the on-screen use (especially for television broadcasts).