Ian Francis wrote:
>Doesn't the 'Smallcaps' character format - truetype fonts - already give
you
>large capitals for capitals and 'small capitals' for lower-case?
True. I also sometimes use a font called Copperplate which does the same.
Alan Leavy wrote:.
>>The arguement about
legibility of caps v lower case goes back to the beginning of print and has
never been verified (to my knowledge) however it is generally assumed
within the design industry that lower case provides a cleaner and more
receptive communication. A simple test is to cover the lower half of a line
of text and to read it and then do the same with lower case. In most
instances people will be able to read the lower case easier. <<
Doesn't this demonstrate that there is more redundancy in the information
given by lower case when in complete words? For people who read in complete
words that may make it more legible. For people who read letter by letter,
I'm not sure that it demonstrates anything.
>>I would
suggest that if anybody is interested in designing typefaces for dsylexics
that they use the web to contact many of the type founders and publishers
and obtain printed copies of their catalogues. It's not worth reinventing
the wheel if a suitable typeface/s exists already.<<
Hear! Hear! I have spent a bit of time looking through font lists from this
point of view. My suspicion is that there are many fonts which are 80%
fine. But practically all font designers are concerned with aesthetics to
the detriment (to my mind) of legibility. Aesthetics leads to consistency
of shape. Consistency of shape leads to confusion. I suspect that an
optimally legible font is likely to be considered ugly by traditional type
designers. I also suspect that a (lower case) font which is optimally
designed for dyslexic people will also prove to be more legible for normal
readers, particularly under adverse circumstances (or for speed reading).
Ian Litterick
iANSYST Ltd Dyslectech Email [log in to unmask]
The White House, 72 Fen Road, CAMBRIDGE, CB4 1UN, UK
Tel(+44) (0)1223 42 01 01. Fax(+44) (0)1223 42 66 44
FREEPhone from UK only 0500 14 15 15
web url http://www.dyslexic.com
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