Rhythm

How letters look and the rhythm of the font plays a critical role in the acquisition of meaning while reading. Legibility is the ease with which visual symbols (like letters) are decoded. This all starts with how words are perceived.

To learn more about legibility, more information is needed on how the visual system reacts to letters (within a word) in terms of spatial frequencies and visual comfort. The comparison between low and normally sighted people is indispensable to reach a better understanding of the peculiarities of the target group. Within Bessemans’ PhD, she systematically explored and revealed different design parameters to improve the decoding skills for children with low vision (and normal vision). The main goals of the new projects within this research line are to elaborate on the relation between rhythm heterogeneity influencing stripe patterns/spatial frequencies, (visual) comfort and legibility.

READSEARCH will open novel pathways to improve legibility in printed matter for regular readers as well as those who are struggling or impaired.