Is My Site Hard to Read?

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Is My Site Hard to Read?
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Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2507
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 1:49 pm Post subject: Is My Site Hard to Read?

I joined up What Are You Blogging on Chat. Here's the sample entry link I provided: https://www.bellewood-gardens.com/2013/Carousel%20Farm%20Lavender_2013-06.html

A couple of people said it was difficult to read due to faded gray tessellated Escher background and green text. I have regular visitors who haven't mentioned this but now that it has been mentioned I need to think about it.

I'm writing the entries in html code, using Arachnophilia. Here's the code for background and text color: <body background="treptle1.jpg" LINK="#0000ff" VLINK="#ff0000" ALINK="#ff0000" TEXT="green">

Each entry requires a link to that month's sub-page and the garden diary page. All three - two updates and actual entry - must be uploaded in order for it to appear for visitors. So whether I go to the default for background, which is stark white, or a solid color, or change text color it is going to be ticklish work. Possible for new entries, lots of faffing around to change hundreds of old ones.

Any suggestions? Should I change appearances for new entries only - and if yes, do you recommend background or text or both, and change in what way?

Or, since the site has been up for over a decade and gets a goodly number of hits should I just leave well enough alone.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:00 pm Post subject:

Honest answer? It's terrible to read. It might be dull but there's a reason books and newspapers don't deviate from black text on a white background. (edit - apart from the fact that printing is easier that way. They also don't deviate on e-books or online)

Don't use anything other than black for text or it will upset printers or colour blindness. You can overcome the former by choosing to print in greyscale but then green prints as pale grey on white which is similarly bad to read and why make your readers compensate for the site's colour choice. Equally backgrounds are visually disrupting, an Escher print might be a cool design but it's not so very far from DPM which is what the army dress things in when they don't want to be seen.

Some people might think I'm being too conservative in my choices but in the interest of legibility text should be black on white and patterns shouldn't overlap the text.

Last edited by Jb on Tue Jul 09, 13 2:07 pm; edited 1 time in total

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:01 pm Post subject: Re: Is My Site Hard to Read?

Jam Lady wrote:

Any suggestions? Should I change appearances for new entries only - and if yes, do you recommend background or text or both, and change in what way?

I would change for going forwards - and perhaps one or two pages that you like to link to, or that still get lots of traffic.

Being the person who said it was difficult to read - my suggestion is to have a totally plain background to the writing. Personally I like dark text on a plain muted background.

I think many folk will just not read what you say (or just read a small amount) and click away rather than say anything about how it looks...

Of course it could just be my computer that makes it seem so confused, so it is a good idea to ask here about how others find it....

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:11 pm Post subject:
I agree it is terrible. Enough for me to not read it unless it was information that I could not get else where. Def not read it just for entertainment. I also dislike mags that print over pictures with large colour & brightness variations. Again I would not buy a mag that does this.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:16 pm Post subject:

Some tips:

Limit the number of words in a line of text, don't spread a line of text across the full screen width. This can be achieved by using columns (difficult in HTML while making it accessible), increase font size, or reducing the page width (960px is good).

Maximise contrast between text and background using comfortable colours.

Good typography and line spacing helps with legibility enormously.

Consider increasing font size

Avoid pattern backgrounds that underlie text.

Whitespace is good.

MornieG

Joined: 17 Jan 2013
Posts: 933
Location: Bromham, Wiltshire

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:27 pm Post subject:
I know absolutely nothing about the technicalities but I found the text really hard to read on the patterned background. Mo.XX

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:44 pm Post subject:
i like the background but i do find my eye drawn to it rather than the text. have you tried black on the pattern if you like the background? for more of a contrast? beautiful pictures btw.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4591
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:45 pm Post subject:
I like the Escher, so if you want to keep it is there any way to have it as a border around the page?

Bodrighy

Joined: 15 Aug 2008
Posts: 2157
Location: Near Devizes

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 2:49 pm Post subject:

I think it is a ten second chance to grab peoples attention with a web page. I am afraid that yours wouldn't last that. Green is a bad colour for anyone with colour blindness and when spread right across the page it looks like a text book. Online people want short sharp small paragraphs, loads of images and text that can be read at 100 metres. OK not quite 100 but that doesn't need any concentration to read. Lose the back ground, align the text in short paragraphs alongside appropriate images, keep it to a dark text on a light background, preferably black on white or very pale grey.

I'm not an expert but as I am building a shop on line this is the advice I have been given and it seems to work.

Pete

12Bore

Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 9089
Location: Paddling in the Mersey

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 3:45 pm Post subject:

Just to confuse things a little, whilst I find it difficult to read, my daughter, who has a condition called Visual Stress, finds it easier that black on white.
Her condition means that with high contrast (such as B on W) she gets a strobing effect and the characters seem to move around, some dyslexics get a similar effect, apparently it's more common in left handers that right handers. She uses a green overlay sheet to read B&W, and at Uni uses blue in on yellow paper, and for projector work she wears mint green tinted glasses or the Lecturer changes the background colour for text and PP presentations.

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2507
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 6:08 pm Post subject:

Thank you for all the good comments. I appreciate that so many of you took the time to reply.

It was not a arduous as I had feared. I kept the Escher background but have changed the text to black for the primary Garden Diary page, the month of June (see here: https://www.bellewood-gardens.com/2013/2013-06.html ) and all the individual June entries.

Hot links remain, as they should, in blue.

Here's a sample: https://www.bellewood-gardens.com/2013/Nagy%20Orchard_2013-06.html

Of course the other time-consuming issue is that I have to go to FTP Commander (that's the program I use to upload to GoDaddy) Go to 2013 (where the files are sorted alphabetically, not by date.) Scroll past all the .jpg files, find the correct .html files, then upload, over-writing the existing files.

What do you think, nice improvement? Please let me know.

Again, thanks for all the helpful comments. People here are just so nice.

Woo

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Posts: 787
Location: Mayenne, Pays de Loire

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 6:19 pm Post subject:
i think its more defined now. i'm still seeing the background but IMO the text is clearer. good luck with it.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4591
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 6:44 pm Post subject:
Much better

Sally Too

Joined: 14 Sep 2006
Posts: 2511
Location: N.Ireland

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 7:49 pm Post subject:

Personally I would still prefer totally plain behind the writing. However this is slightly better - would be better still perhaps if the type was bigger or bolder.

Looking forwards could you use a plain panel within a pattern border for the written stuff? This would also mean you would have fewer words across each line, which would also make the content easier to read.

I'll be totally honest - I'd still click away. But of course you might just click away from my blogs too....

marigold

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 12458
Location: West Sussex

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 13 7:52 pm Post subject:

Sorry but I still find it hard to read, and, as VP said, full width of the screen is a big turn-off. Looks like you use centred text sometimes too and even though the width is better, I find centred text hard work and another turn off. There are some slightly angled images which also confused my eyes - had to blink to be sure that it was the image that was wonky, no my vision.

Overall the site is too "busy" for my taste, but it's your blog and you know your stats

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