Read Text

What about Text Articles by: Timothy W. Shire

In ensign and many other web sites you will often encounter pages of text. Just like this page and you may not have realised, but text on a computer monitor screen is hard to take. There are several reasons for this, including the flicker which we ignore to the point we don't even recognise its presence, and there are other more subtile factors like type size. Though many studies continue and research is being done on how to make text reading on a computer monitor more easily accomplished, the fact remains, that it is a major task and most of us web browser types can only handle a few lines of type before the urge to click to something else is overwhelming.

At the same time, you will encounter articles that need to be read, so here are some hints about handling such pages.

1. Text is most easily read in a paper form, so if it looks important, print it
out on your printer. Both Netscapeand Microsoft Explorerwill
produce excellent paper copy.

2.
Check out your browser to see if you can "read off-line" the pressure of time may be causing some of the problem for you, so save the material or capture it and view it at your leisure. (This actually just prolongs the agony but it works for some people)

Just as using your finger worked in grade one until your teacher discouraged the practice you might find reading text on screen easier if you use the cursorto point your way along the line.

Don't read it, have it read to you. Increasingly computer technology is adopting various voice capabilities, we expect to see browsers soon able to take advantage of text to speechreading. This really doesn't solve the problem as the computer voices are still a bit confusing but, the computer voice will establish a specific and continuous rhythm and that might be the key to being able to push you along through the confusion of screen text.

3.

4.

The first suggestion is the best. But even the photograpic articles in Ensignand
other sources are often nice to have in print. Maybe you can run off an
article or two from Ensignand share them with a friend who does not have
Internet access.

What about Text Articles by: Timothy W. Shire In ensign and many other web sites you will often encounter pages of text. Just like this page and you may not have realised, but text on a computer monitor screen is hard to take. There are several reasons for this, including the flicker which we ignore to the point we don't even recognise its presence, and there are other more subtile factors like type size. Though many studies continue and research is being done on how to make text reading on a computer monitor more easily accomplished, the fact remains, that it is a major task and most of us web browser types can only handle a few lines of type before the urge to click to something else is overwhelming. At the same time, you will encounter articles that need to be read, so here are some hints about handling such pages.
	1.	Text is most easily read in a paper form, so if it looks important, print it out on your printer. Both Netscapeand Microsoft Explorerwill produce excellent paper copy.
	2.	Check out your browser to see if you can "read off-line" the pressure of time may be causing some of the problem for you, so save the material or capture it and view it at your leisure. (This actually just prolongs the agony but it works for some people) Just as using your finger worked in grade one until your teacher discouraged the practice you might find reading text on screen easier if you use the cursorto point your way along the line. Don't read it, have it read to you. Increasingly computer technology is adopting various voice capabilities, we expect to see browsers soon able to take advantage of text to speechreading. This really doesn't solve the problem as the computer voices are still a bit confusing but, the computer voice will establish a specific and continuous rhythm and that might be the key to being able to push you along through the confusion of screen text.
	3.
	4.
The first suggestion is the best. But even the photograpic articles in Ensignand other sources are often nice to have in print. Maybe you can run off an article or two from Ensignand share them with a friend who does not have Internet access.