[WEB4LIB] Why do children like big type?

[Cathy Cox]

Because children's ability to distinguish letters and the separations 
between words develops over time, and only once they become truly 
proficient readers can they handle smaller type fonts.  That's why 
children's books intended for early readers often use larger type sizes, 
and why kids who are learning to read & write make large letters.

I was told by a teacher at my daughter's school (daughter is in third grade 
- 8 1/2 right now) that by the time a child is reading at the fourth or 
fifth grade level they can definitely handle the smaller type sizes, but 
before that many kids have trouble with smaller fonts. So maybe you need to 
keep the screens at lower resolutions and somewhat larger type for the kids 
- although 20 seems a bit large; I would expect 18 would be plenty large 
enough.

Just as a side note, I've also discovered that many other patrons prefer 
larger fonts or lower-res settings.  Many older patrons or people with 
vision impairments find that the higher-resolution settings are very 
difficult to read.  One of the interesting things about trying to meet 
accessibility guidelines is that it's not just people with "disabilities" 
who benefit, but many people who might be able to manage without special 
accomodations but who find things more comfortable or easier to use because 
of the changes.

Catherine Cox
Electronic Resources Librarian
Mission College
Santa Clara, CA

At 10:43 PM 3/27/00 -0800, you wrote:
>I am working in a library. We offer PC's for typing homework and PC's
>for web surfing. Here are some observations I have accumulated during my
>work here.
>
>I have noticed that children like to see BIG type on their screens and
>papers.
>
>When starting a new document, a child would first change the type size
>to 20 or more. Only then he/she would start typing. (The default type
>size in our templates is 12 points.) They want to "fill" the pages with
>their text.
>
>Whenever they can, children will change the screen resolution to
>640X480. They like to see BIG text on their screen. They don't care that
>they see less information. They don't mind scrolling. They don't care
>the low-res is low-tech.
>
>It seems that when children see BIG, they feel that they get "more
>value". They "love" the opportunity to make things bigger, thus better.
>
>Because I am responsible for setting up the computers in the library, I
>have set them up according to MY preferences (hi-res=more
>information=small text). I have also designed the library's web site to
>be better seen using 800X600 (640X480 optional).
>
>I wonder if I should try to "educate" children to "see small" or setup
>the computers according to their preferences.
>
>(cross posted to chi-web and web4lib)
>--
>Hanan Cohen - http://www.info.org.il
>***Love and Peace***