Iranian Journal of Ergonomics

Introduction: Lack of attention to the ergonomic measures and standards in making PowerPoint slides can result in visual fatigue, less attention to the content of the lecture and lower quality of training. This study aimed to identify the most popular Persian fonts and font sizes used by students in making PowerPoint slides and to investigate the students' subjective perception of the three features of legibility, formality and attractiveness of these fonts.

Materials and Methods: At first, five most widely used Persian fonts in providing PowerPoint slides were identified in 84 students from Tehran University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences. Then, ten slides were prepared containing simple and familiar sentences based on the five popular fonts and two Different font sizes (24 and 28). Afterwards.40 college students evaluated the eligibility, formality and attractiveness of the fonts and font sizes used in each slide by a seven-item Likert scale. 

Results: One-way ANOVA Revealed significant differences between the students' subjective perception of legibility, formality and attractiveness of the fonts used in the slides. In terms of eligibility and attractiveness, slide 10 (B Titr, 28) was top rated and slide 4 (lotus, 24) was ranked as lowest by the participants. In terms of eligibility and attractiveness, slide 10 (B Titr, 28) was top rated and slide 4 (lotus, 24) was ranked as lowest by the participants.

Abstract

Introduction

The extensive development of written interactions in the current world of technology in one hand, and on the other hand noticeable dominance of English language in this milieu, has led to inadequate utilization of Farsi in such settings, even amongst native speakers. Lack of experimental data regarding legibility and readability of the printed and electronic texts related to this language has been the main theory behind the current research, which was designed to evaluate correlations between typography and reading performance.

Materials & Methods

Eighty four Farsi speaking university students, having no specific visual impairments, took part in the study. Frequently used Farsi fonts, edited in equal pixel areas and sizes, and were evaluated through legibility and readability tests. Word detection and word search techniques were considered for each test respectively. All trails were designed within similar visual interaction conditions to avoid any background biases.

Results

Statistical analyses revealed correlations between typography and readying performance in Farsi (compared to English). Amongst the six frequently used fonts studied, legibility was significantly higher in Yekan, t (83) = -2.649, p=0.012. Likewise readability was found to be significantly smoother in Zar font, t (83) = - 2.194, p=0.037.

Conclusion

On the whole, the current approach towards classification of Persian fonts confirms the outcomes of the present study. In other words, fonts frequently used for development of body of the texts usually have higher legibility, and types being utilized for presentation purposes mainly possess higher readability.