Re: Seen this lately?

To: James and all ...

First, let me say that I think it is appropriate to continue this thread
because the topic is about as "basic" as anything can be in HTML.

To keep this short, lets confine the remarks to Line Length.

First off--let me say that the term "line length" as I am using it--is from
the old Compugraphic--and others--typesetting. It refers to the width of the
column of text on a page. (The W3 page in question has the line length
spread clear across the whole screen.)

It matters not a whit whether you are looking at a page in a book or text on
a computer screen. The width of that column will have a very important
bearing on how easy the text is to read. This is not really a "printing" or
a HTML thing. It is certainly not a Ted Temer thing. It is really more of a
Ophthalmology thing.

Anyone remotely connected with the field of eyesight will point out that in
general, the longer the line length, the harder it is to read.

Old time school teachers/professors with hundred of pages to read, demanded
large margins and double spaced type to try to overcome this very problem.
And that problem is the eye losing track of where the next line begins as
the width of the column starts to exceed the area of "concentrated" vision.

As any R/C model airplane flyer or combat pilot can tell you--there are two
types of vision. One is the overall panoramic vision. Sort of what the wide
angle lens of a camera sees. However, unless there is a significant color
change--or movement--the vision to the sides is less dominate. You actually
see best, just slightly off your center point of aim. That's why the next
word shows up so nicely as you read.

However--when you concentrate--like the first flight of a beginning modeler
or when reading, the vision narrows down. Sure, you can "see" the whole page
but it no longer registers all that well. If one is worried, tired,
squinting at a screen or even scared as in the case of the model flyer, it
gets a lot worse. You really get a case of tunnel vision. And--as a
result--we tend to lose our place going down the page and have to hunt for
the beginning of the next line.

Hence again--the reason for all that double spacing on those term papers.

Those who study such things have pretty well agreed that the "ideal" line
length for most people is somewhere between 35 and 45 total characters and
spaces. Anything over that and people start to have difficulty. And
sure--some more than others. Anything less and you start to have trouble
completing a phrase or thought without using a LOT of lines. In fact, the
only media that normally does this, is newspapers. The only reason they use
these narrow columns is to increase flexibility in advertisement placement.

The second big advantage--and perhaps equally important--is that the large
margins on each side of the page, called "white space" helps to make the
text stand out. This in turn--makes it easier to read. This is one reason
why you see more and more commercial publications--on-line or in
print--using more and more white space. Sometimes a whole BUNCH of
whitespace. They want the message to stand out.

Well--I would think that if we bother to create a page--we want our message
to stand out every bit as much as any other copywriter/page layout operator
does.

And besides--most will agree--it's just simple common courtesy.

BTW: No one has ever said that a web author could not use blockquote for
things other than blockquotes. We are not talking about bulleted lists or
numbered lists. We are simply talking about indented text. So I repeat--if
you can't stand tables, at least have the courtesy to indent.

Enough for now--this ought to generate all the flames I can stand for one
night.

Best wishes all
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/


> Hi all,
>
> slightly mystified here...
>
> I mean, it's only 4500 words or so. Is that supposed to be long? It must
be
> me, I'm used to psychology papers and management reports, 10,- 20,- 30,000
> words (and that's the preamble)! And it's only a few minutes to read it.
>
> And I don't understand the comments re: line length. What's wrong with the
> line length? I mean this stuff isn't meant for punters, it's meant for the
> writers/designers who we must hope are at a slightly higher reading level
> than the general public (no?)
>
> All right all right, I'm being slightly tongue-in-cheek just above, but
> really,-
> what's wrong with the line length and the page length?? It's pig-ugly
> colors (cheesy!), and the font usage is a nightmarish mess, (cool?!) --
but
> what else is wrong?
> I _like_ long line lengths, I _detest_ short pages! And you're not
actually
> suggesting that they use tables for textual layout, are you - that's nono
> No.1 in my book!?
>
> regards,  James Roberts.
>
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