Because he uses very small pages for his printed Essay, Gill decided
to hyphenate some words which would protrude even across his ragged
right margin. I'm not sure whether he says anything about semi-ragged
right margins, so-called clean rags, which would be difficult to
typeset in the old days but are perhaps more likely to appear one day
on the web:

http://www.aisleone.net/2009/design/8-ways-to-improve-your-typography/

Reading Gill's Essay convinced me to set webpages using a ragged right
margin. Now that I look back at pages which were justified, especially
the ones which use below 700px width, I'm really surprised at just how
bad they are and yet I didn't notice before. I think this is a common
thing in design, where you get so involved with a design you don't
even realise how terrible one aspect of it is.

On 4 Apr 2010, at 13:07, Sean B. Palmer wrote:

> He believes simply that decent word spacing is much
> more conducive to readability than a straight right margin. Though he
> recognises that a straight right hand margin is beautiful, he prefers
> the utility since first and foremost text is supposed to be read.

I'm not sure I find this too convincing.

If it were a matter of taste, then I would have to concede that Gill could choose to dislike justification if he wished. However, if he's argument is that justification hurts readability, then that is - surely - an objective and quantifiable measure - not something for mere belief. I read the link you provided, and it is full of of this same confusion between taste and metric.

"Correctly spaced lines make it easier for a reader to follow the type and improves the overall appearance of the text."

It's not that I necessarily disbelieve that it improves the overall appearance of the text, but if we're saying that it improves the readability, shouldn't we be able to cite the appropriate research to back up that statement? Do you know of any such research? I would hardly surprise me to learn that Gill either conducted such research, or was aware of such research - and was relying on it to justify (heh) his opinions.

On 4 April 2010 15:30, Noah Slater <nsl...@me.com> wrote:

> "Correctly spaced lines make it easier for a reader to follow the type and improves the overall appearance of the text."
>
> It's not that I necessarily disbelieve that it improves the overall appearance of the text, but if we're saying that it improves the readability, shouldn't we be able to cite the appropriate research to back up that statement? Do you know of any such research? I would hardly surprise me to learn that Gill either conducted such research, or was aware of such research - and was relying on it to justify (heh) his opinions.

Personal view. I agree, more readable. Logic below.
Finding my place is easier with ragged right, I can view this indent or that
word sticking out as a marker.
When I scroll text I can 'mark' a line end.

Fully justified is too 'even' to allow easy navigation with the eye.

regards

--
Dave Pawson
XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
Docbook FAQ.
http://www.dpawson.co.uk

On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:08 PM, Dave Pawson wrote:

> Finding my place is easier with ragged right, I can view this indent
> or that word sticking out as a marker.
> When I scroll text I can 'mark' a line end.

I hadn't thought about this, that's a very good point. It also reminds
me of the admarginations they used to put in old books to help you
scan your current position in the text. Don't see those in books these
days, though you do see figure quotes used in web articles in much the
same way sometimes, e.g. on BBC News.

--
Sean B. Palmer, http://inamidst.com/sbp/

On 5 April 2010 22:41, Sean B. Palmer <s...@miscoranda.com> wrote:
> I hadn't thought about this, that's a very good point. It also reminds
> me of the admarginations they used to put in old books to help you
> scan your current position in the text.

Mr English is back!
Google shows 3 entries, and two of those are from Sean!
Admarginations. Marginalia added for some purpose?

regards ... feeling quite foreign.

--
Dave Pawson
XSLT XSL-FO FAQ.
Docbook FAQ.
http://www.dpawson.co.uk