Readability and point size

Subject: Readability and point size
From: Jill Burgchardt <jburgcha -at- PESTILENCE -dot- FTC -dot- NRCS -dot- USDA -dot- GOV>
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 15:31:08 -0700

Hello,

Does anyone have any statistics or know of any articles regarding use of different point
sizes for readability? Specifically, is bigger always better (hardcopy documentation)?

The 12-point standard proposed for body text on our documentation seems to waste
a lot of space. Since our audience is primarily scientists, we think they'd be just as
comfortable if we dropped it to 9 or 10 point. (We assume they read plenty of technical
stuff at smaller font sizes.)

Does any research support our perspective? Please send your responses to
jburgcha -at- pestilence -dot- ftc -dot- nrcs -dot- usda -dot- gov

TIA,
Jill Burgchardt

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