Should I justify the text on my website?

Should I justify the text on my website?

Full text justification does not work well on web pages for two main reasons:
  1. the way we actually read text when we're viewing it on screen
  2. the way browsers handle text justification
Text is more difficult to read on screen than it is in hard print because of differences in monitor resolution. Furthermore, even though it is not obvious to most internet users, the image on the screen is not totally static; in fact, it is constantly being refreshed. Different types of formatting that include inconsistent spacing may make it difficult to read words, phrases and paragraphs.

Internet browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari are not very good at handling justification and displaying justified text (and each browser’s display may differ), and your website visitor is likely to be presented with text and spaces between words which varies a great deal. In printed text, justification tends to result in a more subtle variation in spacing. The extreme variation in the spacing online makes the text more difficult to read - instead of the eye being able to move smoothly from one word to the next, it has to move in "fits and starts," searching for and jumping to the start of each word.

You would be hard pressed to find a major website that utilizes full text justification because of the usability issues it raises. The New York Times, CNN and the website for the Supreme Court of the United States are perfect examples. So while the edges of your text blocks may not be perfectly neat, avoiding justification will ensure that all website visitors able to read and comprehend the information on your site.

    • Related Articles

    • How do I edit content on my website?

      In order to edit content on your website, you will need to login to the site manager and navigate to the Site Pages section on the left hand side of the screen: The main content pages are created within the Practice Areas and Custom Pages sections ...
    • How Do I Add or Edit Blogs on My Website?

      If you have a blog enabled as part of your Omnizant package you can begin adding posts right away! Your first step is to log in to your website's Site Manager.  Once you have successfully logged in, please refer to the following steps in order to ...
    • I want to change the font size and colors on website, where is the option to do that?

      Each website we develop utilizes Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) which is a type of language that dictates the look and formatting of your website within an internet browser. The font size and color is set in the CSS to ensure consistency across each ...
    • Updating Your Website

      Updating Your Website You can make most changes to your website right through your Site Manager account. The links below correspond to the various sections of the Site Manager and include an in-depth overview of the features and functionality of each ...
    • How do I add hyperlinks to my website?

      Copy the URL  (CTRL+C on PC or CMD+C on Mac) of the webpage you would like to hyperlink. Navigate to the content page within your site manager in which you will be adding a hyperlink. Highlight the text you would like to hyperlink: With your text ...