9.1.2 Important elements of clear print

Clear print also involves paying attention to:

• the weight (thickness) of the print: this can be light, normal (roman), semi-bold (medium) or bold. Never use ‘light’ as it offers low contrast between the print and the background, so it is harder to read. Bold is best kept for emphasis.
   
• type style: italics, underlined text and block capitals are harder to read than standard print, so avoid them wherever possible.
   
• the size of the spaces between letters, and between lines and paragraphs – the technical term is ‘leading’. If the leading is too narrow, the lines of text are more difficult to read. The lines can seem to merge together and it is harder to recognise the shapes of words. The general rule is that the space between one line and the next should be 1.5 to two times the size of the space between words on a line. If you use Microsoft Word, single line spacing is the minimum setting for clear print.
   
• alignment of text: left justification (used in this publication) makes it easier to find the beginning of the next line. Full justification, in which the text is aligned to both the left and right-hand margins, works well in books but is hard to reproduce using a word processor, so you end up with wide spaces between words, or crammed up text. Centred text is also hard to read, but is fine for titles or main headings.

the way in which the text is broken up, for example, by headings, lists, diagrams and pictures:

• if you are using columns, make sure that the margin between them (known as the ‘gutter’) is sufficient to make sure that people don’t see the text as continuous across the page. A line down the gutter can help.
   
• people with low vision find it harder to see the detail of a picture than to see text, so never rely on pictures or diagrams alone to convey important information. Use captions to explain what is in the picture.
   
• use white space, rules and headings to provide relief from acres of continuous text.
   
• if you want to put a picture in the text, align it to the right so that the left margin (and thus readability) is preserved.

images:

• line drawings and outlines are the easiest sorts of illustrations to see.
   
• avoid abstracts and watercolours (unless, of course, you are producing a publication about art).
   
• obviously, sharp, crisp high-resolution photographs containing good colour contrast, clean backgrounds and not too much detail are much easier to see and ‘read’ than muddy, grainy images. To check the level of contrast, photocopy the image and see if the detail is still visible and if you can distinguish various shades of grey.
   
• dark-coloured foregrounds and light-coloured backgrounds also help visibility.
   
• put a border or frame around an image so that people who use magnification programmes won’t miss it.
   
• tabulations: pre-set these in your computer’s style sheet in order to maintain consistency.
   
• headings: use the heading style in Microsoft Word to create headings, as screen readers need this to create an outline of the document (see also section 9.6.1 on PDFs).
   
• tables: always use the table tools in your computer. Keep tables as simple as possible, and always provide a verbal description, too.
   
• consistency and coherence: these make documents easier for everyone to manage. On a table of contents, link the name and the page number with a series of dots so that it is easy to see what relates to what. Put page numbers in an obvious place, such as the bottom outside corner of the page, so that people don’t have to hunt to find them. Always put headings and page numbers in the same place throughout a document.

• the look and feel of the paper: don’t use glossy or gloss laminated paper, as it reflects light and obscures print. Instead, choose matt, silk or uncoated paper that weighs at least 90gsm so that there is no chance of the print showing through on the other side, making it harder to read anything that might appear there. Photocopying paper is usually 80gsm, so check out the amount of ‘show’ before giving out double-sided printouts or photocopies. Also check that the photocopying process has not muddied the contrast between shades and colours.
   
• the colours used: the contrast between print and background is very important for readability, more so for some people than print size. The greater the contrast, the easier a document is to read. Avoid combining yellow with blue, or red with green, as these are the mixes most difficult for people with colour blindness to distinguish. ‘Reversing out’, in which (for example) white or pale text appears on a black or dark background, can reduce the amount of glare on a page, and can also look very striking. It is hard to do well for more than a small amount of text, though. The print looks smaller, too, and light type weights can fill with ink, reducing the contrast, so reverse out only with caution. You can find a useful colour contrast tool on www.lighthouse.org/accessibility/design/accessible-print-design.
   
• the background: to maximise legibility, have a plain background – no watermarks, patterns or background images.
   
• bindings: if your leaflet is going to be folded, make sure that the folds don’t obscure and text. If it’s a bigger publication and is going to be bound, make sure that it can open completely flat, which will make it accessible to people who use magnifiers, scanners etc to help them to read. A good solution is ‘Canadian binding’. This is a form of wire-o binding (wire loops which go through holes in the paper, like a ring-binder) that combines the advantages of opening flat with a covered, flat spine (like an ordinary book) so that you can identify it easily on a shelf.

Some no-nos:

• fancy, curly fonts, or ones which mimic handwriting
   
• italics, underlining and chunks of text in block capitals
   
• pictures and diagrams in the text of a column
   
• narrow leading
   
• information that is available only from looking at a picture or table
   
• vertical text (or any text that isn’t horizontal)
   
• superimposing text on a picture or patterned background
   
• layered photographs
   
• glossy, shiny or textured paper
   
• thin paper.

Once you have decided on your house style (see section 14) you can use the style settings on your computer to make sure that all your documents conform to best practice in clear print. Ask your IT colleagues for help in setting this up. Do this right, and your Word file can be the single source for professional or in-house printing, and for the alternative formats that you may wish to produce.