ELEARNINGx

5 Strategies for Delivering Readable eLearning Content

Use Contrast The most readable text is simple – it’s black text on a white background. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Black on white has worked for centuries as body text, and with good reason.

Break It Up Any huge block of text is difficult to read. Simply stated, text is easiest to read when you deliver it in short paragraphs – ideally, no more than four sentences each. You can also toss in a graphic or two to add visual interest, but make sure that it relates to the content.

Use White Space If your eLearning design consists of wall-to-wall text, no one is going to want to read. Use margins around your text blocks, and additional spacing between lines so that people know where one paragraph ends and the next begins.

Alignment Type that is left-aligned is easier to read than type that is right-aligned. You can use right alignment occasionally, like when you’re wrapping text around photos, but in general, lean to the left. Justified type doesn’t work well on web pages, because the text blocks are usually narrow and justification results in huge gutters of white space.

“You’ll become known for doing what you do. It’s a simple saying, but it’s true.” Jonathan Harris