Text-Align Preferences

Everything related to the visual and coding aspects of websites.
Laura
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Re: Text-Align Preferences

Post by Laura »

I was really debating if i should use full-justify or left-justify for my Valgarv shrine redesign. I originally had all the text left-justify but wasn't happy with it, especially since my original design had paragraph widths that were far too wide. After narrowing it all down to an acceptable length (I hope, lol), I chose full-justify. I THINK that the content on my site isn't too bad for it, I don't notice any crazy text gaps that would make it hard to read but all of my paragraphs are relatively short (no more than 4-5 lines or so) so I think it works.

I think if I had paragraphs that were generally much longer than 4-5 lines, I'd go with left justify so that people who read it can have visual cues as to where they are in the paragraph. I typically do left justify but my Valgarv shrine is an exception. XD
Lethe
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Re: Text-Align Preferences

Post by Lethe »

There's been so much good and varied input in this topic so far from different backgrounds, thank you, everyone! :star:

I think it's good to come out of this discussion knowing that there isn't an optimal way to go about this (and thus that we're not doing it "wrong" either way), that there are other factors that come into play regarding readability too (it seems that most of us, when using justified text, take care - as much as possible - that no unreasonable gaps pop up), and that on the user's end, there is some kind of tool to make text appear left-aligned if a certain instance of justified text makes something completely unreadable to them. What Aku said about webdesign being distinct from print makes me think, too.

The plugin Masao linked to looks really interesting...! Does anyone here have strong feelings on hyphenation on websites? 8D Would it make it more annoying to read (flow) or easier (accessibility) overall?

@Aku: Wow, I actually didn't know that the uneven margin on the right helps with orientation within the text, too! I had read that about the even margin on the left (as part of why right-aligned text is discouraged when reading from left to right), but that makes sense.

@Robin: I think right-aligning text when there's a right-aligned image sounds good for short paragraphs, yes! :D
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Robin
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Re: Text-Align Preferences

Post by Robin »

Lethe wrote: The plugin Masao linked to looks really interesting...! Does anyone here have strong feelings on hyphenation on websites? 8D Would it make it more annoying to read (flow) or easier (accessibility) overall?

@Robin: I think right-aligning text when there's a right-aligned image sounds good for short paragraphs, yes! :D
Hyphenation bugs me when paragraphs are very wide, because I have to keep the first part of the word in my head and and then go allllll the way back to the left of the page to find the last part of the word. It also makes me mentally pronounce the word wrong as I'm reading (random pet peeve). Hyphenation is not too bad on narrow paragraphs, though, because I don't have to hunt for word pieces :)

Also, YAY right-aligned text on short paragraphs :D 2005 me wasn't a COMPLETE doofus :D :D :D xD
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dubiousdisc
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Re: Text-Align Preferences

Post by dubiousdisc »

Same as Robin. I guess the most important part of all web typography is keeping the measure in mind :)
Destinie
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Re: Text-Align Preferences

Post by Destinie »

I like justified text, especially in small columns.

The only justify I don't really like is right-justified. For whatever reason it makes me feel uneasy and I don't like looking at it.
Mikari
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Re: Text-Align Preferences

Post by Mikari »

I don't actually read often, I usually have my computer read things for me, but for the rare occasions when I do read, I prefer justified text since it looks nicer. I don't mind different sized spaces between the words as it differentiates the lines and if anything makes it easier to follow and not lose your place. If the differences are only at the end of each line it doesn't look nice and it feels distracting rather than like a "useful" little difference.
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