What’s wrong with this picture?
June 25, 2009Our local motoring organization (like AA, AAA etc.) publishes a monthly magazine for members. An article in the June 2009 issue was on the importance of eye tests for seniors, especially for tasks such as driving.
Here’s part of the article:
Eye test article
Anybody see anything wrong with this article (other than it’s a little fuzzy from my camera)?
How about the colors and font size used? The article was on a light to mid-gray background, in white font, and with a font size of about 9 or 10 pts. Surrounding articles were on a white background with black font at the same font size — and were easy to read.
This article aimed at seniors was very difficult to read. I would suspect most seniors would have problems reading it unless they were in good light, had their glasses on and perhaps had a magnifier as well.
Perhaps the editor is only 25, but why did no-one else pick up that decreasing the readability of an article is not a good thing, especially when the target audience are the ones most affected by deteriorating eyesight? And to add to the irony, the article is ABOUT eyesight…
I shake my head.
I find many of the articles are print on stupidly coloured backgrounds that make it hard to read. I am partly colour blind, which might also contribute to the problem, but so is 10% of the male population, so it is something all publishers should know to take into account
Good point, Simon. At least on the web (and in apps such as Word) you have the option of increasing the font size, assuming the web designer has correctly styled the text — you can either do this through your browser’s View or Zoom settings, or hold down Ctrl as you scroll the wheel in or out on a wheel mouse. Also, there are settings that allow you to apply your own style sheet to web pages (e.g. always make the background a particular colour), but I’ve never really tried this so I don’t know how well it works.
This type of thing is frighteningly common. Every Friday, our local paper publishes a listing of events and community services for seniors. It’s 7 pt. type! I have excellent vision in the reading range and I have difficulty reading it.