Web Accessibility for Older Readers: Effects of Font Type and Font Size on Skim Reading Webpages in Thai

摘要

Most guidelines for making websites accessible for older people have been developed for the Latin alphabet. Currently, there are no web design guidelines for the Thai language or for Thai older people. Our research investigated the effect of font type and size in Thai on skim reading for Thai younger (21-39 years) and older (59-72 years) adults. There were two levels of font types (Conservative and Modern, which correlate to serif and sans serif types, respectively) and three levels of font sizes (12, 14, 16 point). There was a significant effect of font type on reading time per web page, but not for font size or age group. There was also a significant main effect of font type and font size on reader preferences, but no effect of age group. These findings form the basis of recommendations for evidence-based web design guidelines for the Thai language.