[WEB4LIB] Re: Why do children like big type?

[Nancy Sosna Bohm]

Well stated.  I would like to further point out that children and others who
are just learning to read are recognizing individual characters rather than
whole words.


----- Original Message -----
From: Cathy Cox <cathy_cox at wvmccd.cc.ca.us>
To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2000 12:41 PM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Re: Why do children like big type?


> 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***