Fonts and their correlation to reading speed and information recall

Abstract: Text can be written with various types of fonts, knowing how the fonts affect the reader is advantageous for developers and creators when choosing what font to use when creating consumable media. Researchers have suggested that the results of a font may be affected by the reader's familiarity with it [6]. In recent times, digital user interfaces have seen a shift from serif to sans-serif fonts [10]. Many young adults spend a lot of their time on digital devices, and it might be the case that they are more familiar with sans-serif fonts. This familiarity might yield a measurable effect on their reading speed and information recall when reading sans-serif fonts compared to serif fonts. This study aimed to answer the question: Does sans-serif fonts compared to serif fonts have an impact on reading speed and/or information recall for young adults? This study was conducted with 20 participants of ages between 18-30 years old. The participants read four texts, each text was presented with either Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana or Garamond on a computer screen. The time it took to read each text was measured and the participants were asked questions to test the recollection of what they just read. The result from this study showed no significance in the difference between the serif fonts compared to the sans-serif fonts for either reading speed or information recall. In this study no evidence was found that supports that serif or sans-serif fonts have an impact on- or correlates to reading speed or information recall. While these results did not show a significant difference there are other factors that could influence the results. The lack of significance from this study does not rule out that serifs can impact reading speed or recollection.