“Before graphic user interfaces, text was the primary means of both input and output defining human-computer interactions. Even today, much of the information user interfaces present is textual. Therefore, we should not underestimate how the right text treatment can measurably improve user productivity and increase user satisfaction. As new technologies become available—for example, larger monitors with higher resolutions—a good foundation of knowledge about effective text treatment can help designers create usable user interfaces for them more quickly.” (Tobias Komischke – UXmatters)

“It’s all our fault!” (Richard Rutter and Mark Boulton)

“For too long typographic style and its accompanying attention to detail have been overlooked by website designers, particularly in body copy. In years gone by this could have been put down to the technology, but now the web has caught up. The advent of much improved browsers, text rendering and high resolution screens, combine to negate technology as an excuse.” (Richard Rutter)

“Typography is the craft of endowing human language with a durable visual form, and thus with an independent existence. Its heartwood is calligraphy – the dance, on a tiny stage, of the living, speaking hand – and its roots reach into living soil, though its branches may be hung each year with new machines.” (Dave Shea)

“The population is rapidly aging and becoming a larger share of the marketplace. 13 percent of the population is currently over 65 years old. In 30 years that group will double to 66 million people. People change as they age. Sensory, cognitive and motor abilities decline. The built environment is not typically created with the needs of the aging population in mind. How does the choice of typeface in signage systems, for example, impact the older viewer who is experiencing vision problems typical to that age group? Are certain typefaces more suitable to the aging eye?” (Paul Nini – AIGA Clear)

“In the Web Standards community we hear the words ‘Semantic Markup’ thrown around a lot as a concept—the right thing to do— but I know a lot of designers who are trying to learn this stuff are being confused by the whole ‘semantic thing’. It’s a difficult task for a designer, who primarily thinks very visually, to relate to a concept like semantics in a document when all they want to do is create something. After doing a ton of research over the past couple of weeks I’ve begun to notice links and patterns between typographic theory and Web Standards.” (Mark Boulton) – courtesy of webgraphics

“There are few more obviously functional forms of environmental typography than the signage in a subway or other transit system.” (John D. Berry – Creative Pro) – courtesy of kottke

“This study examined the effects of enhanced layout (headers, indentation, and figure placement) on reading performance, comprehension, and satisfaction. Participants read text passages with and without enhanced layout. Results showed that reading speed and comprehension were not affected by layout, however, participants were more satisfied with the enhanced layout and reported it to be less fatiguing to read.” (Barbara S. Chaparro et al. – SURL 7.1)

“Evidence from the last 20 years of work in cognitive psychology indicate that we use the letters within a word to recognize a word. Many typographers and other text enthusiasts I’ve met insist that words are recognized by the outline made around the word shape. Some have used the term bouma as a synonym for word shape (…). This paper is written from the perspective of a reading psychologist.” (Kevin Larson – Advanced Reading Technology, Microsoft Corporation) – courtesy of karel van der waarde

“(…) font sizing is probably the most complicated and controversial aspect of web typography.” (Andrew Hume)

From Lewis Blackwell’s 20th-Century Type: “Microsoft has arguably the largest, most expert typographic unit in the world. With repsonsibility for the functionality and output of the great majority of type-generating devices, it is no surprise that they should have that, but it is not a fact that is celebrated or much investigated. That the Apple Macintosh platform is more celebrated and widely supported by creative designers obscures the prevelance of Microsoft technology in generating the typography that the world sees — even if many of its smartest ideas came from elsewhere.” (…) “Microsoft’s Typography group researches and develops fonts and font technologies, and supports the development of TrueType and OpenType fonts by independent type vendors.” (Microsoft) – courtesy of jamie divine

“As a company that arguably did more to jump-start the desktop publishing industry than any other in the mid-1980s, Apple Computer has always paid great attention to the typefaces used in its marketing, operating systems and industrial design. It has also been a leading player in font technology development, and controls several patents important to the implementation of high-quality typeface rendering on computers.” – (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

“116 words of the original 16th century Lipsum plus 384 additional words, carefully chosen from Cicero’s very own ‘De Finibus’, bonded by superior scripting and utmost linguistic accuracy guarantee for the web’s most random … ah, randomness – 500 times sheer bliss for the typographically inclined. Ipso facto.” (Lorem Ipsum) – courtesy of marek moehling

“(…) we explore some time-honored practices of typographic excellence.” (Fabio Arciniegas A. – XML.com)

“We are investigating the user response to Microsoft’s ClearType™ font enhacement technology. ClearType is a setting that is manipulated through the operating system of devices using Liquid Crystal Display screens. ClearType works by altering the vertical color stripe within a pixel, allowing for changes in how the text looks at fractional levels. These changes are intended to enhance the resolution of the screen text and improve readability.” (Andrew Dillon et al.)

“This short(ish) book contains all the important ‘stuff’ I ever wanted to know about creating accessible text on my own web pages; and now that I have figured it out myself, I am happy to pass it on.” (Jim Byrne – ScotConnect) – courtesy of deswozhere

“This thesis presents a model which accounts for variations in typographic form in terms of four underlying sources of structure. The first three relate to the three parts of the writer-text-reader relationship: topic structure, representing the expressive intentions of the writer; artefact structure, resulting from the physical constraints of the medium; and access structure, anticipating the needs of the self-organized reader. Few texts exhibit such structures in pure form. Instead, they are evidenced in typographic genres—ordinary language categories such as ‘leaflet’, ‘magazine’, ‘manual’, and so on – which may be defined in terms of their normal (or historical) combination of topic, access and artefact structure.” (Rob Waller PhD. Thesis 1987) – courtesy of karel van der waarde

“Typographica is a daily journal of typography featuring news, observations, and open commentary on fonts and typographic design.” (Stephen Coles and Joshua Lurie-Terrell )

“In this article, I attempt to cut a swathe through the complexities of Web typography; explain the possible pitfalls; and provide some guidelines for creating accessible and easy to read web pages.” (Jim Byrne)