The effect of color and typeface on the readability of on-line text

What is the best color combination that maximizes readability of on-screen displays is an issue that has been researched by many. These different studies are sometimes contradictive in what makes a color/letter combination more readable and/or identifiable. In creating an application, it is very important to make a good choice in this regard, so that the usability of the application wonʹt be hindered by a poor interaction of background and lettering. Moreover, it is also questionable when reading on-screen, if not only the color but the typeface chosen to present the information has any effects in how readable the information is and how identifiable the letters are to the users. Based on this belief, we developed an application prototype using ToolbookTM in order to test for the effects of color and typefaces when reading on-screen information. An ANOVA test was created using a fractional factorial design to test for main effects and interactions effects. Groups of subjects were selected at random, and the task assigned included several repetitions. The dependent variable used to test for the readability of the typefaces and color combinations was the time consumed in going through the task. This quantitative measure was used as a good indicator of the readability of the data, as the qualitative factor. The results indicated that for some combinations of colors, a strongly significant test was yielded, whereas typefaces main effects were not always significant. In the case of color main effects, as it was anticipated by previous studies, there is not a significant effect on the time to complete the task given by the foreground and background color used.