Readability is a very important quality for any website. In order for the content and text of the site to have an impact on visitors, they must first be able to read it without trouble. Reading from a screen can be challenging in many situations, so this is not as small of an issue as it may seem.

Here we will discuss some of the most important factors that will determine the level of readability for websites.

Spacing and Alignment

If you want the text of your site to have an impact and to be noticed, make good use of spacing. Rather than using a lot of text in small areas, space it out and keep it uncluttered. The space around text will have a huge impact on the level of readability.

Whitespace around blocks of text and images is key, as is line spacing. Give your text plenty of room to breathe and don’t try to cram too much in to any area.

Font Size

Not everyone prefers to read fonts of the same size. People with poor vision typically like larger fonts because it prevents straining of the eyes, but others may prefer to read smaller text. Styling your text in percentages or ems instead of pixels will allow visitors to use their browser to change the text size.

In addition to giving flexibility, you can also use font sizes to make certain text stand out. Increasing the size of text will generally make it more noticeable, but keep in mind that the more you use large text the less impact it will have.

Font Choices

When working to make a site readable, it is best to stick to web-safe fonts like Arial and Georgia. Other fonts may look nice, but you will not have control over which visitors are able to view it in your favorite font. Newer technologies like sIFR do make it possible to use a much wider variety of fonts.

One of the main causes of poor readability is choosing the wrong font or using too many different fonts. Generally you should stick with no more than 2-3 fonts on any website, otherwise it can impair readability.

Width of Text Lines

Modern websites are typically being design a good bit wider than they were just a few short years ago, due to the common widescreen monitors that so many interent users have.

Keep in mind when designing that very wide or long lines of text can be difficult to read, as can very short or narrow lines of text. Most content areas are not wider than 600-700 pixels, because anything can larger can get rather difficult to read.

Font Weight

Bold text can obviously be very effective for helping text to stand out, but it should be used in moderation. Overuse of bold, or italics for that matter, can decrease the level of readability and it will lose its impact.

Distractions

Websites that feature excellent readability allow the text to be the focal point of the design. Having too many other bells and whistles for the sake of looking impressive can actually do more harm than good as it will take away from the emphasis on the text.

Steven Snell is a web designer and blogger from New Jersey. He maintains a design blog called DesignM.ag. If you’d like to see more about text and fonts you can find collections at his blog of free calligraphy style fonts and bold fonts.