| Tangent time! "The optimal human-readable line length" isn't really something that exists, even if we make lots of assumptions about basic stuff like font size, avg word length, and color contrast. Here's a quick study on the reading speed and comprehension of character line lengths (cl) between 35 and 95 for reference: http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLeng... - most efficient reading (speed/accuracy) at 95cl - line length does not affect comprehension But here's the head spinner: - 60% _preferred_ either 35cl or 95cl - 100% _least preferred_ 35cl (45%) or 95cl (55%) Line length is an easy thing to assume everyone perceives the same way, but even given a consistent environment (definitely not a given in this age of increasingly diverse device dimensions) there's a wide range of preferences with little real impact on readability. Unless, of course, your assumptions about readability clash with the user's preferences or reading environment. Put simply - make your life easy and reduce problems by just letting the user decide. |