How You Can Effectively Enhance the Readability of Your Website

If you have content that is not readable, or ‘reader-friendly’, you won’t really be able to impart your message effectively. And the thing about website readability is this: whilst we read magazines or books word for word, we don’t usually do the same thing with websites. 

On websites, we tend to just scan through the information and jump from one interesting point to the next. So, if you want to be quite sure that your visitors can maximise their understanding of the content on your site, you have to focus on improving your website’s readability.  

 

Here’s how you can effectively enhance the readability of your website. 

The font you choose can make a vast amount of difference, so you should begin with this. When selecting the right fonts for your website, make sure you can use both the lowercase and capital letters of the font as the height difference between letters will make your content easier to scan through and read. 

 

Also, if you want to have longer text, it’s better to make use of a clear font - various kinds of sans serif fonts are best for this. Avoid going for serif fonts as they can make reading more difficult on the web; serif fonts can easily become blurry when used on a web page, so users may find it harder to read them.  

 

Some sans serif fonts you can use include Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Lucida Sans, and Trebuchet. One interesting point: the Verdana font was designed especially for the Internet. 

 

Whilst choosing the right font is important, choosing the right size of the font matters as well. Some experts would say that the ideal font size is 16 pixels, but some argue that it is better to use percentages instead of a fixed font height. A percentage can adapt to the personal settings of people’s browsers as well as various screen resolutions, after all.  

 

But bear this in mind as well: when people are on the web, their eyes are often further from the screen compared to when they are reading a book. 

 

Another critical factor is the contrast, which as a web design company in Bristol we know all too well. The contrast between the text and the background makes a difference, so the bigger it is, the better. If there isn’t much contrast between the text and background, this can make reading tiring. But you should also stay away from ugly or unappealing combinations such as white on yellow or blue on red.  

 

You would also want to avoid background images which are too ‘noisy’ or ‘busy’. When placing background images on your web pages, make sure to place the text only on the areas which have enough white space or are empty. Alternatively, you can put an additional layer between the image and the text, so the two are effectively separated. 

 

Now you know more about how to get the readability on your site right, it might be time to consider updating it for one where the text, font, and size are all easy to edit. 

 

If you are looking for a website in Bristol, then we are here to help - contact the friendly team at it'seeze Web Design Bristol to find out more about our creative website design services and ongoing support.