Fonts and readability

Fonts may seem simple, but a debate about them can get heated; some people are passionate about fonts.

Many people say that the easiest fonts to read on paper are serif fonts (such as Times).   And there is some research showing that online, since most fonts are sans-serif (for example, Arial), people have grown accustomed to reading them.  So when creating your website and e-newsletters, you may want to choose a sans-serif font.

This post on Neuromarketing discusses the studies that show that people deem a task to be easier when it is written in a clear font vs. one that's harder to read. 

You don't want people to think that making a donation is difficult.  Anything that stands in the way between a person an a task has the potential to divert them from doing it—I am obsessed with this study about leaving the door to a cooler of ice cream open.  That resulted in more than double the amount of people taking ice cream than when it was closed.  (It's just a door!  And ice cream is delicious!)

Also, you should use a very dark font against a white or very light background.  Don't use a white font on a dark background (except sparingly), or a lighter-colored font on a white background.  

I will continue writing about small things you can do to increase the readability of your communications, so stay tuned...