Is x-height a better indicator of legibility than type size for drug labels?

Authors: Bix L.¹; Lockhart H.²; Selke S.³; Cardoso F.⁴; Olejnik M.⁵

Source: Packaging Technology and Science, Volume 16, Number 5, September 2003 , pp. 199-207(9)

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Abstract:

In 1999 the US Food and Drug Administration published a regulation in an attempt to ensure the legibility of OTC drugs, specifying, among other things, a minimum type size of 6 points. This is problematic because different typefaces of the same size vary widely in type heights and, presumably, legibility. We hypothesized that specifying a minimum x-height, the height of the lowercase x, would produce more consistent legibility than the minimum type size specified within the regulation.

Twenty-six subjects viewed two groups of typefaces using the Lockhart Legibility Instrument to quantify legibility. The first group contained typefaces that were all 6 points, but, by nature of their design, varied greatly in their x-heights. The second group was made from the same set of typefaces, but these were manipulated so that their x-heights were equal to the average x-height of group 1. A likelihood ratio test indicated that the group that varied in x-height, group 1, produced significantly more variable results than the group with equal x-heights, group 2. This indicates that specifying a minimum type size may not be the best approach for producing consistent legibility. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: Legibility; readability; over-the-counter drug labels; labels; labeling; type size; x-height; typeface legibility

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pts.625

Affiliations: 1: Michigan State University School of Packaging, 153 Packaging East Lansing, MI 48824, 517-355-4556 2: Michigan State University School of Packaging, 155 Packaging East Lansing, MI 48824, 517-355-3604 3: Michigan State University School of Packaging, 145 Packaging East Lansing, MI 48824, 517-353-4891 4: Michigan State University Department of Statistics and Probability and Department of Animal Science, A175 B Plant and Soil Sciences East Lansing, MI 48824, 517-353-8654 5: Michigan State University School of Packaging, 130 Packaging East Lansing, MI 48824

Publication date: 2003-09-01

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Is x-height a better indicator of legibility than type size for drug labels?

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