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The effect of font width on eye movements during reading
Katsumi Minakata1, Sofie Beier1
1Royal Danish Academy - Design, Centre for Visibility Design, Denmark.
Applied Ergonomics
|July 5, 2021
Summary
Font width significantly impacts reading eye movements (EM), leading to adjustments in fixation and saccade patterns. Despite changes in EM, overall reading speed remained consistent across different font widths.
Area of Science:
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Cognitive Psychology
- Typography
Background:
- Font characteristics, such as letter width, influence text spacing.
- Font styles affect reading eye movements (EM), but research on high-resolution displays is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of font width on reading eye movements (EM).
- To analyze how different letter-width magnitudes affect reading parameters.
Main Methods:
- Utilized four Univers family fonts varying in letter width.
- Recorded reading speed, saccade velocity, and fixation/saccade duration and count in 25 participants.
- Employed high-resolution displays for eye-tracking measurements.
Main Results:
- The Ultra Condensed font significantly affected readability and EM.
- This font resulted in fewer fixations and saccades, longer fixation durations, and shorter saccade durations compared to other fonts.
- No significant differences in reading speed were observed, indicating efficient reader adaptation.
Conclusions:
- Font width manipulation influences eye movement patterns during reading.
- Readers adapt their eye movements to maintain consistent reading speed despite variations in font width.
- Identified trade-off effects in eye movements: (1) reduced number/duration and (2) increased number/duration of EMs.
