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Thread: font for "large print" Word document
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From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 8:18AM
Subject: font for "large print" Word document
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I have been asked about the best font and font size to use for making a "large print" version of a document created in Word 2010 on Windows 7, intended to be distributed in paper. Are there guidelines on this? I found the lovely WebAIM article on fonts (http://webaim.org/techniques/fonts/) but it only deals with web pages.
Thanks!
sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of Assistive Technology &
Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
Information Technology Division
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.mass.gov/itd
From: Jukka K. Korpela
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 8:45AM
Subject: Re: font for "large print" Word document
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2011-12-20 17:18, Bourne, Sarah (ITD) wrote:
> I have been asked about the best font and font size
> to use for making a "large print" version of a document
I think you will find even experts disagreeing when it comes to
legibility of fonts, and legibility is in part a subjective matter - it
partly depends on what the user is accustomed to.
I would not worry too much about the choice of font, as long as
completely unsuitable fonts (like monospace fonts or Comic Sans for copy
text) are excluded. Personally, I would use Cambria, which is better
known as suitable for screen, but it's a well-designed serif font that
looks fine in large size, too. Compared with Times fonts, for example,
it has modest variation in stroke width.
The language and topic of the text are relevant, too. They may imply
character coverage requirements and stylistic issues. In technical
texts, like instruction booklets, Arial or some other sans-serif font
might be suitable. I would favor Calibri as sans-serif font, since
Arial, Verdana, etc. have so large x-height, i.e., the relative size of
ascenders is so small that it is not that easy to recognize words from
their visual patterns as with fonts with smaller relative x-height.
Yucca
From: John E Brandt
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 9:03AM
Subject: Re: font for "large print" Word document
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Sarah,
This may be of some help:
>
Large print is defined by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) as
"print for text passages that is larger than the print used by that segment
of the population with normal vision. APH takes the position that large
print for use by the low vision population is print that is eighteen points
in size or larger."
<
>
What is large print?
Large print is generally defined as print that is larger than print sizes
commonly used by the general population (which is considered to be 8 to 12
points in size). Some use a guideline for defining large print as 18 point
or larger. A document rendered in large print format usually has more white
space and may or may not look like the original document but contains the
same information. Large print may be printed on pages that are the same size
as a standard textbook page or on pages of a larger size.
<
There is more at this reference from the National Center for Accessible
Instructional Materials (NC-AIM) (located in Massachusetts!)
http://aim.cast.org/learn/accessiblemedia/allaboutaim/what#lgprint
Happy Holidays!
~j
John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
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207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA
From: Jennifer Sutton
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 9:15AM
Subject: Re: font for "large print" Word document
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Perhaps these two articles will help:
Guidelines from APH:
http://www.aph.org/edresearch/lpguide.htm
and
Best Practices from CCLVI:
http://www.cclvi.org/large-print-guidelines.html
Jennifer
At 07:18 AM 12/20/2011, you wrote:
>I have been asked about the best font and font size to use for
>making a "large print" version of a document created in Word 2010 on
>Windows 7, intended to be distributed in paper. Are there guidelines
>on this? I found the lovely WebAIM article on fonts
>(http://webaim.org/techniques/fonts/) but it only deals with web pages.
>
>Thanks!
>sb
>
>Sarah E. Bourne
>Director of Assistive Technology &
>Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
>Information Technology Division
>Commonwealth of Massachusetts
>1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
>617-626-4502
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>http://www.mass.gov/itd
>
>
From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 9:21AM
Subject: Re: font for "large print" Word document
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Excellent resources, Jennifer - thank you!
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of Assistive Technology &
Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
Information Technology Division
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.mass.gov/itd
From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 9:27AM
Subject: Re: font for "large print" Word document
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Thank you, John and Jukka - exactly what I needed!
sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of Assistive Technology &
Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
Information Technology Division
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.mass.gov/itd
From: Karlen Communications
Date: Tue, Dec 20 2011 11:15AM
Subject: Re: font for "large print" Word document
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I would add a how to booklet I wrote on creating and using Style Sets in
Word 2007 and 2010 which let you take an accessible Word document and
customize the font style and size to meet your needs. This lets people with
visual disabilities view accessible Word documents easily with their own
preferences. If you are working in an alternate text production centre, you
can create style sets for clients/students and swap them for the style set
used in an accessible Word document.
Since I can see the serif fonts better, sans serif fonts cause readability
issues for me. I have my own Style Set to swap out on accessible Word
documents to optimize the readability for me.
http://www.karlencommunications.com/MicrosoftOfficeAccessibility.html
The how to document is called Creating a Custom Style Set. Although written
for Word 2007, it is the same process in Word 2010.
Cheers, Karen