Re: PDF vs HTML

[Thomas Neuburger <thomasn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Fascinating, Dan. Just some follow-up questions:

You say, "a further secondary reduction in comprehension
(figures range from 5% to a whopping 40% depending on the study)
occurs when the text is formatted in the flush-left, single-space-
between-paragraphs (with generic fonts and font sizes) style
that is almost unavoidable in HTML- and WinHelp-type documents".

And also, "The secondary comprehension reduction, and a small
portion of the primary reduction, disappear when the text is
formatted according to the conventional rules of typography
for printed material...".

I'm interested in what specifically causes the reduction -- Is it
flush-left-ness (i.e., the remedy is centered alignment, or right
alignment), lack of spacing between paragraphs, lack of consistent
page size, lack of headers and footers, and so on?

In other words, given a world in which HTML could be "corrected",
what would those corrections be, specifically? Do your sources
provide this information as well?

Thanks,

Tom Neuburger


Dan Emory wrote:

>1. Experimental results have established that reading information from a
>monitor reduces comprehension and retention:
>It is well established that, when reading informatioin from a monitor, both
>comprehension and retention are reduced (conservatively) by 30% over reading
>the same information in printed form.
>
>2. Experimental results show that a further secondary reduction in
>comprehension (figures range from 5% to a whopping 40% depending on the
>study) occurs when the text is formatted in the flush-left,
>single-space-between-paragraphs (with generic fonts and font sizes) style
>that is almost unavoidable in HTML- and WinHelp-type documents. The main
>reason seems to be that, when this shovelware-type formatting is used,
>readers can’t keep their place in the text, and end up skipping or
>re-reading lines, which breaks their concentration and irritates them. The
>studies also show that comprehension worsens even more with multi-screen
>documents.
>
>3. The secondary comprehension reduction, and a small portion of the primary
>reduction, disappear when the text is formatted according to the
>conventional rules of typography for printed material in whatever language
>and culture is involved. In other words, people understand more when the
>screen looks like a well-designed printed book.
>
>4. Real-world experience supports the experimental results cited in 1, 3,
>and 3 above:
>Most people who browse through long HTML documents adopt the
>print-before-reading habit—-they download the ones they need, format the
>text in their word processors, and print them out. What they do on-line is
>skim—read a couple of lines and scroll down, read a few more lines, and so
>on. They’re not really “getting” the information this way, and a tremendous
>amount of time is wasted converting the information to a readable, printable
>form.
>
>CONCLUSION:
>
>By all means use PDF if you expect people to understand the information you
>are providing. If, as described in 4 above, your users adopt the
>print-before-reading habit, there's no hassle, unlike HTML and Winhelp, in
>producing highly readable printed output. In addition to replicating the
>typography and layout (including running header/footers, bleed tabs, etc.)
>of a well-designed printed book, PDF has a zoom capability, which
>facilitates the on-screen examination of complex graphics, and allows the
>user to adjust the size of the text for easy reading. In my own opinion,
>ordinary text in an on-line PDF version should be 12 points rather than the
>10 point size typically used in printed books.
>      ====================
>      | Nullius in Verba |
>      ====================
>Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
>FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
>Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@primenet.com
>10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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