We have already discussed how Serif and Sans-Serif fonts can enhance the readability and clarity of a document which is an important usability issue. We also know that one of the best ways to measure usability is to test how fast users execute important tasks while navigating through a site. Easy to learn interfaces, reduced loading times, fast content searches, and task oriented homepages are all methods to help achieve this. In addition to this, typography is another element that should be considered when discussing reading time and legibility.
Lower-Case vs. Upper-Case
Long sentences in upper-case are hard to read due to the absence of ascenders and descenders found in lower-case letters which aid recognition. People memorize the drawings of words, i.e. their combination of ascenders and descenders, and this recognition improves and increases the reading time of text.
X-height
The x-height is the length of the main part of the lower-case letters. On a computer screen legibility is influenced by both the letter size and x-height.
The Times New Roman typeface is ideal for documents due to its high text density which prints well. Despite its popularity on the web; Times New Roman was not designed for the screen and ultimately works best on paper.
On the other hand Verdana and Georgia were designed for the screen, as they have a larger x-height which improves legibility and readability on computer screens.
Which fonts help people read faster?
Studies from the Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) at Wichita State University concluded that Times New Roman and Arial can be read faster than Courier and Georgia. In addition to this fonts that are 12-point are read at a faster rate than those at 10. Despite not being designed for screen reading, Times New Roman and Arial performed well in that area.
How could this be?
In 2002 Santa Maria performed a study that concluded that people read fonts faster when they are used to them as they memorize the visual appearance of words. Therefore, if somebody read newspapers with a Times New Roman typeface, then, they tend to read text in this font at a faster rate. The reason Times New Roman and Arial performed well in the SURL study is due to their popularity. Therefore, as other typefaces become more popular, it is likely they too will be read at a faster rate when compared to others.