An Eye Tracking Study of How Font Size, Font Type, and Pictures Influence Online Reading

Abstract. In order to maximize online reading performance and comprehension, how should a designer choose typographical variables such as font size and font type? Do accompanying pictures distract the reader? This paper presents an eye tracking study of how font size, font type, and pictures affect online reading. In a between-subjects design, we collected data from 114 subjects reading stories formatted in a variety of point sizes, san serif and serif fonts, and containing different types of pictures. Reading statistics such as reading speed and regressions (backward eye movements) were automatically computed using the WebGazeAnalyzer system. While our results for font size and font type yielded only one significant difference in reading, we did find significant differences in speed and regressions when pictures related to the text were replaced with advertisements. Similar significant results were found for demographic variables such as age group and whether English is the subject’s first language.

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