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Effects of Font and Capitalization on Legibility of Guide Signs
Abstract
The research objective was to improve highway guide sign legibility by replacing the 40-year-old guide sign font with a new font called Clearview. It was believed that the current guide sign font's thick stroke design, made with high-brightness materials and displayed to older vehicle operators, exhibited a phenomenon known as irradiation or halation. Irradiation becomes a problem if a stroke is so bright that it visually bleeds into the character's open spaces, creating a blobbing effect that reduces legibility. The Clearview font's wider open spaces allow irradiation without decreasing the distance at which the alphabet is legible. Results are presented of two daytime and two nighttime controlled field experiments that exposed 48 older drivers to high-brightness guide signs displaying either the current or the Clearview font. The Clearview font allowed nighttime recognition distances 16 percent greater than those allowed by the Standard Highway Series E(M) font, without increasing overall sign dimensions.
... The legibility of typefaces used on roadway signage is an essential requirement for drivers to read and comprehend traffic information. Various studies investigated the performance of the Latin typefaces of the English language; remarkably, the research studies improved the legibility of the United States (US) highway fonts FHWA Standard and Clearview typefaces in relation to various factors [5][6][7][8]. The efficiency and comprehension of Arabic road signage have been investigated in relation to drivers' personal characteristics in multiple studies [9][10][11][12][13]. ...
... In video 1, several participants (participants 1, 2, 3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18) exhibited substantial variations in heart rate with very low p-values ("<0.001") and relatively high t-statistics, indicating a statistically significant difference in heart rate compared to time for these participants within video 1. Similarly, in video 2, several participants (participants 5,6,8,11,12,13,15,16,2,3,7,18) exhibit significant differences in heart rate concerning time, highlighted by low p-values ("<0.001") and high t-statistics. ...
... In video 1, several participants (participants 1, 2, 3,4,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18) exhibited substantial variations in heart rate with very low p-values ("<0.001") and relatively high t-statistics, indicating a statistically significant difference in heart rate compared to time for these participants within video 1. Similarly, in video 2, several participants (participants 5,6,8,11,12,13,15,16,2,3,7,18) exhibit significant differences in heart rate concerning time, highlighted by low p-values ("<0.001") and high t-statistics. ...
This research study aimed to evaluate the legibility of Arabic road signage using an eye-tracking approach within a virtual reality (VR) environment. The study was conducted in a controlled setting involving 20 participants who watched two videos using the HP Omnicept Reverb G2. The VR device recorded eye gazing details in addition to other physiological data of the participants, providing an overlay of heart rate, eye movement, and cognitive load, which in combination were used to determine the participants’ focus during the experiment. The data were processed through a schematic design, and the final files were saved in .txt format, which was later used for data extraction and analysis. Through the execution of this study, it became apparent that employing eye-tracking technology within a VR setting offers a promising method for assessing the legibility of road signs. The outcomes of the current research enlightened the vital role of legibility in ensuring road safety and facilitating effective communication with drivers. Clear and easily comprehensible road signs were found to be pivotal in delivering timely information, aiding navigation, and ultimately mitigating accidents or confusion on the road. As a result, this study advocates for the utilization of VR as a valuable platform for enhancing the design and functionality of road signage systems, recognizing its potential to contribute significantly to the improvement of road safety and navigation for drivers.
... However, the authors did not report results from analyses to test the statistical significance of these apparent patterns. Garvey et al. (1997) did such analyses for the legibility distance using 1-word traffic signs, and also for the furthest distance at which each participant could identify the location of a given word in a 3word sign (recognition distance), using participants seated in the front passenger seat of a car that approached the sign slowly. No support for differences in the legibility distance between titledcase and all-uppercase was found, whereas the recognition distance was significantly longer with titled-case (both results referred to width-matched words). ...
... Searching for a city name on multiple word-traffic signs is a common task for road users, for example, when they want to reach a destination while traveling along a nonfamiliar route. Word search tasks have been already used to investigate the effects of word case on the recognition of words in traffic signs, for example, in a study by Garvey et al. (1997), already mentioned. However, the present study has important differences with respect to that study, and also with respect to other previous studies on the subject. ...
... Further studies are also needed to know if the present results generalize to situations in which the person did not know the word/s in the traffic sign, for example, in the reading of unknown names of cities shown in traffic signs posted along the way to our destination. According to Garvey et al. (1997), the word processing in such situations is more dependent on the letter legibility, whereas the word processing in word recognition tasks (such as our word search task) would be guided by the mental representation of the targeted word and it might be influenced by ad hoc strategies. ...
Objectives:
To investigate the word recognition effects of the use of all-uppercase (e.g., VALENCIA) or titled-case (e.g., Valencia) for city names in traffic signs, controlling for word size, and comparing stationary and dynamic viewing situations.
Background:
Prior studies provide mixed evidence regarding the effects of word case on the recognition of city names in traffic signs. Moreover, the evidence on the potential impact of visual motion on these effects is scarce.
Method:
We carried out an experimental study using simulated traffic signs. The task was to indicate, for each sign, whether it contained a given city name or not (word search task, 50% positive trials). Visual motion of signs was manipulated as a between-participants factor: stationary (the sign was still) versus dynamic (the sign expanded as if the participant was approaching to it). Word case was manipulated as a within-participants factor: all-uppercase versus two titled-case conditions varying in font size: width-matched titled-case and point size-matched titled-case.
Results:
In both the stationary and dynamic conditions, all-uppercase resulted in more incorrect responses and slower latencies than width-matched titled-case. When compared to point size-matched titled-case, all-uppercase produced slower correct responses in the stationary condition, whereas faster in the dynamic condition.
Conclusion:
Other factors being equal, all-uppercase city names will be recognized worse than their titled-case versions in traffic signs, both in stationary and dynamic situations.
Application:
Results in the current experimental study would be of interest in the design of traffic signs and other circumstances in which text is presented in motion.
... On its basis, legal requirements for the design of in-formation signs have been defined in individual countries. These are not identical, and for example include the variety of typefaces (Carlson and Hawkins, 2002;Carlso and, Holick, 2005;Dobres, Chrysler, Wolfe, Chahine, and Reimer, 2017;Garvey, Klena, Eie, Meeker, and Pietrucha, 2016;Garvey, Pietrucha, and Meeker, 1997). The variety of typefaces can affect the speed at which the information is read (Minakata and Beier, 2021) and increase the distance from which the text will be seen, giving more time to read the information (depending on driving speed) (Carlson and Brinkmeyer, 2002). ...
Most studies on the legibility of highway signs focus on the legibility of Latin typefaces. Few legibility studies of Arabic typefaces are considered in highway signage. The current study is an empirical assessment of the legibility of the Boutros Advertisers Naskh Arabic typeface, the typeface commonly used in road signage in most Middle Eastern and North African countries. The study uses common highway signs configuration within a laboratory-based simulated driving experience. The results show that Boutros Advertisers Naskh has a high threshold, which indicates low legibility on road signs, and that it requires significant improvements for continued use.
Objectives:
Supplementary signs are essential to improve riders' understanding of road signs. In order to attract the rider's attention and ensure the information on the supplementary sign is effectively delivered, a study on the effective ways to display the information in the supplementary sign is needed. The current study examined the effects of capitalization and information length in supplementary signs on road sign comprehension among riders.
Method:
A randomized 2 (capitalization: all letters capitalized vs the first letter capitalized) × 2 (information length: long vs. short) factorial design experiment was conducted on 131 young motorcyclists in the Jakarta area. Road sign comprehension was measured using sign comprehension time and sign comprehension level.
Result:
A 2 × 2 factorial ANOVA analysis showed a significant effect of information length on sign comprehension time: less information in supplementary signs can increase sign comprehension time. Additionally, a significant interaction was found between capitalization and information length on sign comprehension level: sign comprehension levels would be improved if supplementary signs were presented with capitalization at the beginning of each word and had a long information length.
Conclusion:
This study suggests that there is a need to consider the capitalization and length of information in designing supplementary traffic signs. The effective design of supplementary signs could help riders to comprehend the road sign quickly and accurately, thus improving traffic safety.
With the increasing prevalence of the automobile, the transmission of information through the visual means of signage became critical owing to the safety problems that followed the growth of the highway system and the continuous increase in traffic. This paper presents a review of research on the legibility of highway signs and discusses the key studies of the legibility of typefaces used on them. It examines in particular the legibility of the Latin typefaces in English language used on US highway signs, focussing on the most significant findings on the characteristics of typefaces and the features that most affect legibility. The paper also discusses the methodological approaches used to examine legibility in conditions of driving and suggests that future research should pursue the application of findings in the field of reading research and be informed by design knowledge.
Reading Letters is a book about typeface legibility.
In our everyday life we constantly encounter a diversity of reading matters,
including display types on traffic signage, printed text in novels, newspaper
headlines, or our own writing on a computer screen. All these conditions
place different demands on the typefaces applied.
In a straightforward manner, the book discusses these aspects by drawing
on typography history, designers’ ideas, and available scientific data concerning
the reading process.
Easily accessible and richly illustrated, this is a must-have for any designer
looking for guidance when choosing a typeface for a project.
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