Determining optimal print layout for best reading performance in Chinese

摘要

To evaluate the effects of Chinese print layout on reading performance by different age groups of people, an in-depth study is conducted with a sample of 180 subjects selected from three age group levels (young, middle aged and elderly) and based on the five factors generally affecting reading performance of Chinese texts. The study concludes that for optimal reading performance, articles need to be printed with text horizontally in two blocks per page, in an 11-point size, with line spacing of an exact height of 1.5 times of the font-size in Microsoft Word. (8 refs.)