What is large print?
Over 1.5 million people in the UK cannot access standard print. But, of those, 75% can access large print. Companies that make marketing literature and company information available in alternative formats reach many more potential customers.
Large print should not just be the original document made bigger. The RNIB has guidelines to advise on making print accessible and these should be followed as a minimum. There’s a link to the RNIB information on the Useful Links page of our Resources section.
Accessible large print Typeface and print sizeArial is considered the most accessible and widely available typeface. There are other typefaces, such as Tahoma and Comic Sans that are also popular with a smaller number of partially sighted people. These typefaces tend to be used as they are sans serif typefaces, meaning that they don’t have the tails that typefaces such as Times New Roman have. Although this is regarded as improving the accessibility of a typeface, some individuals do state a serif typeface as their preference.
The RNIB guidelines state that the minimum size print should be is 12 point and that 14 point is preferable. However, RNIB’s research also suggests that 18 point allows an even greater percentage of the population to access a document without additional aids. Even at this size, some people will need to use additional aids (such as magnifiers) to help read print.
Pia’s large print uses an 18 point Arial typeface unless other wise requested by the end user.
ColourIt is widely accepted that a significant proportion of partially sighted people have difficulty accessing print in colour or set against colour. For those with a severe visual impairment, there is also an issue with cluttering up a document with colour illustrations which slow down the user’s ability to access the important information in the text. Apart from the full colour cover that matches the corporate image on the standard print document, we remove illustrations, or replace them with accessible pictures, unless you tell us that you want them to stay. PaperWhen a document is produced using an 18+ point size, the paper on which it is printed needs to be thicker than usual to minimise ‘show-through’ (being able to see text on the reverse of the page through the paper). Pia uses 120 gsm, ivory paper. The ivory paper ensures that glare from the paper doesn’t compromise access, but the contrast between the print and the page is as good as black on white.
FinishingThe binding of a document can also have an effect on its accessibility. Pia uses wire comb binding, rather than plastic combs, or stitching. A wire comb bind allows the large print (and braille) document to be completely folded back on itself, or to lay flat on a surface when it is opened on any page. Other forms of binding create curved pages when a document is opened and laid on a flat surface, which means that if your customer uses additional aids, such as magnifiers or CCTV, to access print, they are faced with additional difficulties.
Click the links below to see a sample print document, and then the large print version of the same document.
[standard print sample document] [large print sample document]
Contact us to order your hard copy of these sample documents and to see how Pia can help you reach as many of your customers as possible.
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