Readability of Websites, Emails and Even Your Phone Screen Can Become an Issue as You Age

I have a pet peeve that I need to get off my chest. I call it the “graying of the internet.”  Here are some examples:

> Website designers are fond of using sans serif fonts in smaller sizes and 50% black — in other words gray! Here is an extreme example from one such website:

Why would anyone create a website, then make it hard to read? 

> The default font for many email programs such as Outlook, which I use, is 11 pt. Calibri, which looks like this:  

At least it is black, not gray, and it looks big enough.  On a computer screen, however, there’s no need for type to be so small.  I changed the default on my outgoing emails to 14 pt. Georgia, the most readable serif font.

> The default font on the iPhone can be made more readable. Under Settings, click General, then Accessibility.

I’ve created a web page, www.ReadabilityYes.info, with instructions for changing the default font on four popular email programs — Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, AOL and Mail.