In my third experiment, I wanted to find out how much the spacing between letters and words affects reading, especially for early readers.
The setup:
- I wrote the same sentence in various versions to analyze the impact of different spacings and tracking settings:
– Normal tracking and line breaks
– Slightly increased word spacing
– Paragraph-separated structure
– No spacing at all (letters and words merged)
– Very large spaces between letters and words
My observations throughout the experiment:
- Normal spacing version: Easy to read, smooth reading flow, recognizable word shapes
- Increased word spacing: Supported reading, as words were visually clearer without disrupting the reading rhythm
- Paragraph structure: Increased clarity, reduced the overwhelming effect of text blocks, and helped with content chunking
- Merged text: Extremely difficult to read, words blended into each other, word shapes were unrecognizable, requiring high cognitive effort
- Very large letter and word spacing: Letters were recognizable, but word shapes were destroyed, slowing down reading and making it tedious
My key take-aways:
- Reader-friendly spacing is essential for keeping word shapes clear and supporting eye tracking
- Text that is too tight not only makes reading harder but can also lower motivation to continue reading
- Spacing that is too wide destroys the reading flow, as children cannot perceive words as whole units
- Structure through paragraphs can serve as a helpful orientation for beginner readers
