Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.

The search by many investigators for a solution to the reading problems encountered by individuals with no central vision has been long and, to date, not very fruitful. Most textual manipulations, including font size, have led to only modest gains in reading speed. Previous work on spatial integrati...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Sally Blackmore-Wright, Mark A Georgeson, Stephen J Anderson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/63a36e4125b3462f86450634a45765c4
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:63a36e4125b3462f86450634a45765c4
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:63a36e4125b3462f86450634a45765c42021-11-18T08:47:18ZEnhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0080325https://doaj.org/article/63a36e4125b3462f86450634a45765c42013-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24244676/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203The search by many investigators for a solution to the reading problems encountered by individuals with no central vision has been long and, to date, not very fruitful. Most textual manipulations, including font size, have led to only modest gains in reading speed. Previous work on spatial integrative properties of peripheral retina suggests that 'visual crowding' may be a major factor contributing to inefficient reading. Crowding refers to the fact that juxtaposed targets viewed eccentrically may be difficult to identify. The purpose of this study was to assess the combined effects of line spacing and word spacing on the ability of individuals with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) to read short passages of text that were printed with either high (87.5%) or low contrast (17.5%) letters. Low contrast text was used to avoid potential ceiling effects and to mimic a possible reduction in letter contrast with light scatter from media opacities. For both low and high contrast text, the fastest reading speeds we measured were for passages of text with double line and double word spacing. In comparison with standard single spacing, double word/line spacing increased reading speed by approximately 26% with high contrast text (p < 0.001), and by 46% with low contrast text (p < 0.001). In addition, double line/word spacing more than halved the number of reading errors obtained with single spaced text. We compare our results with previous reading studies on ARMD patients, and conclude that crowding is detrimental to reading and that its effects can be reduced with enhanced text spacing. Spacing is particularly important when the contrast of the text is reduced, as may occur with intraocular light scatter or poor viewing conditions. We recommend that macular disease patients should employ double line spacing and double-character word spacing to maximize their reading efficiency.Sally Blackmore-WrightMark A GeorgesonStephen J AndersonPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 11, p e80325 (2013)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Sally Blackmore-Wright Mark A Georgeson Stephen J Anderson Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
description	The search by many investigators for a solution to the reading problems encountered by individuals with no central vision has been long and, to date, not very fruitful. Most textual manipulations, including font size, have led to only modest gains in reading speed. Previous work on spatial integrative properties of peripheral retina suggests that 'visual crowding' may be a major factor contributing to inefficient reading. Crowding refers to the fact that juxtaposed targets viewed eccentrically may be difficult to identify. The purpose of this study was to assess the combined effects of line spacing and word spacing on the ability of individuals with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) to read short passages of text that were printed with either high (87.5%) or low contrast (17.5%) letters. Low contrast text was used to avoid potential ceiling effects and to mimic a possible reduction in letter contrast with light scatter from media opacities. For both low and high contrast text, the fastest reading speeds we measured were for passages of text with double line and double word spacing. In comparison with standard single spacing, double word/line spacing increased reading speed by approximately 26% with high contrast text (p < 0.001), and by 46% with low contrast text (p < 0.001). In addition, double line/word spacing more than halved the number of reading errors obtained with single spaced text. We compare our results with previous reading studies on ARMD patients, and conclude that crowding is detrimental to reading and that its effects can be reduced with enhanced text spacing. Spacing is particularly important when the contrast of the text is reduced, as may occur with intraocular light scatter or poor viewing conditions. We recommend that macular disease patients should employ double line spacing and double-character word spacing to maximize their reading efficiency.
format	article
author	Sally Blackmore-Wright Mark A Georgeson Stephen J Anderson
author_facet	Sally Blackmore-Wright Mark A Georgeson Stephen J Anderson
author_sort	Sally Blackmore-Wright
title	Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
title_short	Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
title_full	Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
title_fullStr	Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
title_full_unstemmed	Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
title_sort	enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2013
url	https://doaj.org/article/63a36e4125b3462f86450634a45765c4
work_keys_str_mv	AT sallyblackmorewright enhancedtextspacingimprovesreadingperformanceinindividualswithmaculardisease AT markageorgeson enhancedtextspacingimprovesreadingperformanceinindividualswithmaculardisease AT stephenjanderson enhancedtextspacingimprovesreadingperformanceinindividualswithmaculardisease
_version_	1718421324264636416

Enhanced text spacing improves reading performance in individuals with macular disease.

Ejemplares similares