Patrick briefly brought up the idea of optimal fonts the other day. I looked around for some more information, and discovered this research on optimal web design from Michael L Bernard at the Universiry of Wichitah.

Mentioned in it is that, not surprising, some fonts are easier to read than others. Based on the font you choose for your website, someone may be able to read it faster. What is surprising, is that between some fonts which are similarly legible, some actually lead to deeper comprehension of the material being read. Wow.

There's also an optimal size. Using 10 point is generally significantly slower to read, and 14 point a bit slower to read, than 12 point.

He found Arial and Courier to be the most legible font. Arial is best for anti-aliased fonts. The serif font George led to higher levels of comprehension than the sans serif font Verdana. Children prefer sans sarif fonts such as Arial and Comic.

He also suggests that the optimal line length should be 11 words, or 40-60 characters. Someone is more likely to lose their place with longer line lengths. Longer lines are also more tiring to read.

And then comes background colors. He warns that one needs to choose carefully if using a textured background. He often reduce clarity of the text. He feels that dark text on light backgrounds is best, particularly black on white.

There are a number of other pages on topics including placement and types of graphics, whether frames are okay, how to promote loyalty, and even appealing to international users. Color makes a big difference here -- green represents safety in the US, but criminality in France.

I just thought I'd mention that I don't like ice. I'm perfectly content to have my drinks room temperature. Pre-chilled drinks are okay.

Shana, on the other hand, begins a drinking experience by first filling the cup with as much ice as it can possibly hold, sometimes extending beyond the top of the glass. She then fills the remaining space in the cup with her beverage of choice.