Name three factors that affect legibility, and explain how they affect it.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Familiarity plays a big part in whether your audience will be able to read your text. Obscure and unusual typefaces should not be used for body text although they can be used as display type.
Serif vs. sans serif-Research has shown that for body text serif typefaces are easier to read than sans-serif typefaces because serifs help the reader to differentiate letters from one another and that horizontal orientation of the serifs help the reader's eyes to flow smoothly along the horizontal lines of text.
Type styles are useful for emphasis however long passages of body copy should rarely be set in bold, all caps, italic, or underlined. Readers become familiar with the shapes of familiar words and this speeds up reading. Most legible is the standard combination of capitals and lowercase letters that are roman style.
Color and value are great stylistic tools that can help set a mood, suggest an association, and grab the attention of your audience. However, some color and value combinations are more legible than others, especially for longer passages of text.
Texture of the typographic color of a passage can affect legibility. If it is very smooth—as a result of consistent letterform sizes, weights, shapes, type styles, and spacing—the passage will be easier to read than one with a rough or choppy texture built using inconsistent elements.
The stroke weight of the characters of a typeface also influences legibility. If strokes are too wide, counters may begin to disappear. If strokes are too thin, the strokes may be hard to see. A moderate stroke weight will usually be the most legible choice
The level of contrast between the thickest and the thinnest strokes of a character can affect legibility. Body type, set in a typeface with very high contrast, has a dazzle effect that tires the eyes, while typefaces with very low contrast can be difficult to read because there is less variation to help readers recognize one letterform from another.
Typefaces with an unusually narrow or wide set width can be difficult to read in long passages
The point size of a character affects its legibility. For display text, most typefaces will be optimal at 14 points or larger, but because of the variety of typeface qualities, you will need to use your best judgment. For body text, optimal point sizes range from 8 points to 12 points. If the point size is too small, readers may not be able to make out the letters. If the size of the letters is so big that the reader cannot read the text using normal eye sweeps, the physiology of reading will be disrupted and slowed.
A typeface with a tall cap height and/or x-height will probably be easier to read in long passages than one with a small cap height and/or x-height at the same point size, however, if the x-height is so tall that ascenders are hard to identify, legibility can be diminished.
Contrast between the text and the background must be sufficient so that characters can be easily differentiated, but should not create a dazzle effect that can tire the readers’ eyes.
If the texture of the background surrounding characters is rough or choppy it may distract the reader’s eyes from the text, decreasing legibility.
The surface on which text is printed can affect legibility. Surfaces which create a glare are more difficult on the eyes, and can slow reading of longer passages. Also, if the printing surface is very absorbent, the bleeding of the ink can diminish the counters of the letterforms, making them less legible.