Kurt Shintaku's Blog

I found an interesting piece of research that goes over what color combinations make for good/bad readability.  (http://hubel.sfasu.edu/research/AHNCUR.html)  It’s hard to parse through all the research and really understand what they’re trying to say, when all you and I really want to know is, "what are the best, most understandable fonts, formatting, and color combinations".

So here’s what I’ve concluded, after reading it all:

1. Use plain fonts; don’t use italics.
   Italics generally makes things 10%-25% more difficult to read, especially Times Roman text.
   There are 2 exceptions to this rule however; Italics improve readability when using the following fonts & colors:
   –  Yellow Text on Blue background using Courier New
   –  White text on Blue Background using Courier New & Times Roman
2. The best configuration for readability is Italicized/Times Roman Green text on Yellow background.
   The most readable configuration for text across all scenarios is Italicized Times Roman in Green fonts on Yellow background.  I mean, Iit’s not even close – ugly as it is, this is what you want to use if you just want readability and you don’t care about appearances.  (This test was scientifically executed across 40+ test subjects too so it’s not like this is off the mark) And this is the ONLY exception to the "don’t use italics" rule.

The problem is that most people care about appearances, so let’s assume that people aren’t going to use Italics in general.  If you concentrate on just the Plain, Non-Italicized text research:

1. The best font to use overall is Courier.
   Across all conditions, Courier is best.  Arial on the other hand, is actually the most difficult font to read however Times Roman & Arial are better fonts for readability over Courier in very specific configurations.  Here are the best configurations for readability: 
   –  Italicized/Times Roman Green on Yellow background
   –  Plain/Arial Black text on White background
2. The best colors to use are Black text on White background.
   In general, this is the best color match for readability.  This is closely followed by Green text on Yellow background.  Black text on Grey background is close as well EXCEPT for when using Arial font in this case, in which readability goes to hell. 
   The worst colors to use for readability are:
   –  White text on Blue background
   –  Red text on Green background