Typography in distance learning

Approximate reading time: 2m 17s

This article is dedicated precisely to fonts and related usage tips, with the hope of helping you make your training not only easier to read, but also more beautiful.

Get acquainted with the different types of fonts.

Different fonts carry different meanings. Therefore, when choosing a font for your distance learning – think carefully. Always think about who your target audience is – your choice should be tailored to them and to your learning content. Remember never to use more than 3 fonts – it is best to use two – one for headings and one for the rest of the text. Another good practice is not to use two fonts from the same family at the same time.

Give your text a consistent look.

Lack of consistency can make your distance learning unreadable. The effect should be exactly the opposite – learners should get used to its structure and focus on the material. To achieve this, place your text in the same position on each screen and use the same formatting.

Stick to standard fonts.

When choosing the font for your distance learning, we recommend settling on one of the well-known options, such as Helvetica, Verdana, Gotham, etc. This will ensure a quality user experience for two reasons:

• The listed fonts are widely available and most likely all learners have them installed on their computers.
• The listed fonts display well on all types of devices – desktop and mobile.

Use contrast.

To highlight key points in your text, you can use contrast, but you should not overdo it so as not to get the opposite effect. Look for balance and use enough white space. Your pages should not be overcrowded with information, as this will make it harder for your learners and may even discourage them from training.

Choose an appropriate font size.

When choosing a font size, you should consider how good the eyesight of the people who will be learning is. In principle, the standard font size for electronic text is 12, but 14 and 16 are also commonly used.

You can use different font sizes for different parts of your text – this will give it hierarchy. For headings and subheadings you can use a larger font size, for the text – standard size, and for footnotes – a smaller font.

Consider the line length.

Long lines are difficult to read. The general rule you can follow is that line length should not be more or less than 75 characters.

In addition, we recommend using left alignment for your text – it makes the text easier to read.

Leave spacing.

In addition to blank space between the text and images (graphics), you should also leave spacing within the text itself. Divide it into as many paragraphs as possible.

Also experiment with line height, letter spacing, and word spacing – when you look at your text, it should feel „light” and easy to read.

Get acquainted with the rules of online typography.

Online typography, and especially the one characteristic of distance learning, is governed by several basic rules. We recommend that you follow them, as this will help understanding and absorbing the material included in your distance learning course.

• Avoid underlining parts of your text unless they are links.

• Avoid italics – they are difficult to read.

• Avoid writing everything in uppercase – it changes the tone of the course in the wrong direction.

• Avoid using uppercase letters in the middle of a sentence.

• Avoid central alignment of the text, as this slows down reading.

• Remember that bold type is mainly used for headings – not for body text.

• Colored text is difficult to read – black letters on a white background are always the best solution.