Journal of the Korean Society of Safety (한국안전학회지)

The Korean Society of Safety (한국안전학회)
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Effects of the Syllable Number, Font Type, Color Contrast, Display Type, Letter Size and Age Group on the Legibility of the Korean Characters

음절수, 폰트, 색 대비, 표시 형태, 글자 크기, 연령대가 한글 문자 정답률에 미치는 영향

  • Song, Young-Woong (Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu) ;
  • Lim, Chang-Wook (Department of Occupational Health, Catholic University of Daegu) ;
  • Lee, In-Seok (Department of Safety Engineering, Hankyong National University) ;
  • Jung, Myung-Chul (Department of Industrial and Information Systems Engineering, Ajou University) ;
  • Mo, Seung-Min (Department of Industrial and Information Systems Engineering, Ajou University) ;
  • Kong, Yong-Ku (Department of Systems Management Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University)
  • 송영웅 (대구가톨릭대학교 산업보건학과) ;
  • 임창욱 (대구가톨릭대학교 산업보건학과) ;
  • 이인석 (한경대학교 안전공학과) ;
  • 정명철 (아주대학교 산업정보시스템공학과) ;
  • 모승민 (아주대학교 산업정보시스템공학과) ;
  • 공용구 (성균관대학교 시스템경영공학과)
  • Published : 2009.10.31
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Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of the syllable number(one, two), font type(gothic, myung), color contrast (black on white, white on black), display type(paper, LCD), age(20s, 60s) and character size(2~80pt) on the Korean characters' legibility. Total twenty subjects from two age groups (20s: n=10, 60s: n=10, five male and five female in each group) participated in the legibility test. A target panel was presented in the distance of 50 cm, and subjects conducted a reading tests for, in total, 16 treatment conditions (full combination of syllable number, font type, color contrast and display type). Results showed that two-syllable words revealed better legibility than one-syllable character. The main effects of the age, display type, font type, color contrast, and character size were statistically significant(p<0.01). Paper showed better legibility than LCD, particularly in the 20s and in the character sizes of less than 9pt. Gothic revealed more correct answers than Myung, particularly in the 60s, paper, and white on black conditions. It is expected that these results can provide basic data for the determination of the Korean characters' minimum legible size standards. For example, the minimum legible size for the Gothic and black on white characters presented in the paper should be 5pt for 20s and 1lpt for 60s if the 75% correct reading(3 correct answers in this study) was applied for the legibility criterion.

Keywords

References

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