RE: Are All Capital Letters accessible?

Ø  Results suggest that upper-case is more legible than the other case styles, especially for visually-impaired readers, because smaller letter sizes can be used than with the other case styles, with no diminution of legibility.

This could be an artifact of how we were taught to read.   For whole word recognition many of us expect the casing to be a certain way to efficiently recognize the word.  When upper case is used we may need to decode the word – slowing down reading.  People who were taught a different reading method may have different results.

Jonathan


From: Jim Allan [mailto:jimallan@tsbvi.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2017 3:38 PM
To: Andrew Arch
Cc: WAI Interest Group List list
Subject: Re: Are All Capital Letters accessible?

Then, there is this spanner in the works
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698907002830

Letter case and text legibility in normal and low vision
Volume 47, Issue 19<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00426989/47/19>, September 2007, Pages 2499–2505

It is thought by cognitive scientists and typographers alike, that lower-case text is more legible than upper-case. Yet lower-case letters are, on average, smaller in height and width than upper-case characters, which suggests an upper-case advantage. Using a single unaltered font and all upper-, all lower-, and mixed-case text, we assessed size thresholds for words and random strings, and reading speeds for text with normal and visually impaired participants. Lower-case thresholds were roughly 0.1 log unit higher than upper. Reading speeds were higher for upper- than for mixed-case text at sizes twice acuity size; at larger sizes, the upper-case advantage disappeared. Results suggest that upper-case is more legible than the other case styles, especially for visually-impaired readers, because smaller letter sizes can be used than with the other case styles, with no diminution of legibility.

On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 9:38 PM, Andrew Arch <andrew.arch@digital.gov.au<mailto:andrew.arch@digital.gov.au>> wrote:
Here's are some short articles that counter the initial Myth<http://www.blog.theteamw.com/2009/12/23/100-things-you-should-know-about-people-19-its-a-myth-that-all-capital-letters-are-inherently-harder-to-read/> one. Not peer reviewed, but supports many of the points made already.

  *   Writing readable content (and why All Caps is so hard to read)<https://www.mity.com.au/blog/writing-readable-content-and-why-all-caps-is-so-hard-to-read> [1]
  *   Why Text in All Caps Is Hard for Users to Read<http://uxmovement.com/content/all-caps-hard-for-users-to-read/> [2]
  *   How We Read<https://alistapart.com/article/how-we-read> [3]
And personally, I find them harder to read!

Andrew

[1] https://www.mity.com.au/blog/writing-readable-content-and-why-all-caps-is-so-hard-to-read

[2] http://uxmovement.com/content/all-caps-hard-for-users-to-read/

[3] https://alistapart.com/article/how-we-read



-------------------

Andrew Arch

Accessibility & Inclusivity Lead

Digital Transformation Agency (DTA)

Australian Government

www.dta.gov.au<http://www.dta.gov.au/>
p. +61 (0)428 134 529 t. @DTA<https://twitter.com/DTA>  |  @amja
<https://twitter.com/amja>

On 9 May 2017 at 10:59, Phill Jenkins <pjenkins@us.ibm.com<mailto:pjenkins@us.ibm.com>> wrote:
reliable reference needed?  OK, does any one on this list think that all upper case sentences as easier to read  - vote yes?

so far no yes responses, so the nay's have it!

A reliable study conducted May 2017 proves nearly no one likes all upper case for reading for a variety of reasons.

Note: the question was not:
1. are upper case *letters* harder to read
2. are upper case *words* harder to read
3. *read* was not defined as only visual reading print, and includes, because of this list's audience, considerations for print disabled.
4. I forgot the 4th point
___________
Regards,
Phill Jenkins
Senior Engineer & Accessibility Executive
IBM Accessibility Research




--
Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315    fax: 512.206.9264  http://www.tsbvi.edu/

"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964