Int. J. Human-Computer Studies 64 (2006) 395–404 The influence of font type and line length on visual search and information retrieval in web pages Jonathan Ling à , Paul van Schaik School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, UK Received 14 April 2005; received in revised form 22 August 2005; accepted 28 August 2005 Available online 11 October 2005 Communicated by A. Cockburn Abstract Most web sites are heavily text-based. Previous research has indicated that the way in which this text is presented may have a significant impact on usability. This paper reports findings from two experiments that explored the influence of font type and line length on a range of performance and subjective measures. Experiment 1 used a visual search task and Experiment 2 examined information retrieval. Overall, there was little impact of font on task performance, although the effect of line length was significant, with longer line lengths facilitating better scanning (Experiment 1) and shorter line lengths leading to better subjective outcomes (Experiments 1 and 2). Implications of these results for the design of web pages are discussed and recommendations given. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Font; Line length; Web; Visual search; Information retrieval 1. Introduction Most web sites rely on text to present their content. While there has been recognition of the importance of how this text is presented (see e.g. Nielsen, 2002), designers still need to make their web sites more usable (Trewin et al., 2004). It is imperative that web sites are constructed to enable a high level of usability for all users (Shneiderman, 2000), particularly because many users of the Internet may have a degree of visual impairment or dyslexia, or be lower- literacy users (Nielsen, 2005), all of whom will need clear, uncluttered pages. Consideration of human factors should be an important part of the design process; poorly designed layouts can quickly lead to fatigue, with a resultant lowering of speed and accuracy of task performance (Streveler and Wasserman, 1984). Aesthetic considerations are also important for usability (Lindgaard and Dudek, 2003; van Schaik and Ling, 2003) as these may be closely linked to individuals’ motivation and satisfaction (Moneta and Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). Typography offers many alternatives for presenting online text which are likely to impact on the usability of web pages. There are many ways of presenting letters and words, using different combinations of font types, weights, slants, sizes, line lengths, and justification. What web designers need to know is the impact of their design decisions about text presentation upon usability. This is important regardless of whether usability is measured by performance or preference, although the latter may have a significant impact on the use of commercial sites. Several authors have argued against presenting large amounts of text on screen as users will not read it (e.g. Morkes and Nielsen, 1997). This view has been enshrined in a range of web-authoring guidelines that encourage web designers to use text sparingly or to break it up into small chunks to avoid scrolling (Bradley, 2002; Briem, 2002), this is despite the fact that navigating between pages may take more time (Ingraham and Bradburn, 2003). Although not based on empirical work, List (2001) argues that the best way to improve readability is to avoid distracting readers in any way, ‘so that the text comes through without interference’. Both readers and content developers can, List suggests, employ strategies to enhance reading from a computer screen, such as through adjusting ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhcs 1071-5819/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2005.08.015 à Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 0 1782 583736; fax: +44 0 1782 583387. E-mail address: j.ling@tees.ac.uk (J. Ling).