Five principles of readability
Learn the core principles: Space, Chunks, Guides, Information Structure, and Simple Language.
Mastering these five foundational principles will instantly elevate the quality and accessibility of your documents.
Space
Increasing the amount of space makes it easier to process. The more space around the text, the more attention is available for content.
Easiest ways of increasing space:
- Larger font
- Increased line spacing
- Shorter lines
Avoid formatting that distorts:
- Underlining
- ALL CAPS
- Italics for whole paragraphs
- Centred paragraphs
Tip
Tip: Avoid table borders being too close to the text.
Chunks
Splitting text into smaller chunks makes it easier to process. Readers can both skim and scan the text more quickly.
You should break:
- Text into sections and subsections marked with headings
- Lists into bullet points or numbered lists
- Blocks of text into shorter paragraphs
Guides
Adding guides helps the reader spend less time decoding and focus on what you want to say.
- Bold key phrases in long paragraphs
- Provide an outline summary
- Add icons to help recall
- Summarise instructions with flowcharts
- Use images to illustrate
Information Structure
Give the important information first. Put background second or last. Take your cues from journalistic texts. Start with the new information.
Important! This does not mean removing background info, just moving it to the end or a linked document.
Move these to the end:
- Welcomes and thanks
- Historical or institutional background
- Information obvious from context
Simple Language
- 15-20 Words per sentence. Use shorter sentences
- "You" Address the reader. Instead of "Users"
- Verbs Action over Nouns. "Arrive" vs "Arrival"