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Typographic emphasis of headings: Methods of typographic emphasis to assist with search of unfamiliar and familiar text Item Info
- Title:
- Typographic emphasis of headings: Methods of typographic emphasis to assist with search of unfamiliar and familiar text
- Author:
- Claire Timpany
- Committee Member:
- Dr. Sally Jo Cunningham (Chief Supervisor); Dr. Lyn Hunt (Second Supervisor)
- Date Created:
- 2018
- Abstract:
- Readers use headings to understand the structure and content of a text, and to locate information. Readers understand the structure of a text by building an understanding of the structure of the content through developing relationships between the sections of content. Headings assist readers with both their comprehension of text as well as assisting them with recall of the content. Headings provide signals to readers to aid navigation of a document by indicating the structure of topics. This helps readers locate information either by signalling unfamiliar content or by providing markers that support recall of where information appears in a familiar text. The importance of headings is known; however, little research exists to indicate how these organisational features should be presented visually. This research was undertaken to address that gap in understanding. Five studies were carried out to investigate which heading emphasis methods are most easily identified within a passage of text and which methods best assist readers when searching through text. An initial survey of current practice showed six main methods for emphasising headings, often used in combination to create stronger emphasis. The survey also revealed that the same publication frequently presents headings inconsistently across print and digital formats. These findings helped determine which emphasis methods were included in the paired comparison studies. Three paired comparison studies were then conducted to establish which typographic emphasis methods are most easily identified within a passage of text. Seven individual emphasis methods were compared in print and on screen, followed by comparisons of five combined emphasis methods in both media. These studies found that methods with the greatest visual weight were most easily identified. The most easily identifiable heading styles were then evaluated in search tasks to determine which of four heading styles offered the most help when readers searched for answers in screen-based text. The research showed that headings created by combining two emphasis methods are more distinct from the surrounding body text. These clearer headings are more useful when readers search for information, whether the text is new to them or already familiar. When bold is paired with either increased size or a sans serif typeface, readers are able to locate information more quickly and accurately, regardless of their familiarity with the document.
- Subject:
- Visual communication Layout (Printing) Graphic arts
- Language:
- en
- Source:
- Research Commons at the University of Waikato
- Identifier:
- etd_0017
- Type:
- Doctoral Dissertation
- Grantor:
- University of Waikato
- Degree Level:
- Doctorate
- Degree Discipline:
- Computer Science
Attribution
- Citation:
- "Typographic emphasis of headings: Methods of typographic emphasis to assist with search of unfamiliar and familiar text", Team 2: Electronic theses/dissertations (ETDs), Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning (CDIL), https://info663-fa25.github.io/team2/items/etd_0017.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate.You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis.