Abstract

With the increasing prevalence of the automobile, the transmission of information through the visual means of signage became critical owing to the safety problems that followed the growth of the highway system and the continuous increase in traffic. This paper presents a review of research on the legibility of highway signs and discusses the key studies of the legibility of typefaces used on them. It examines in particular the legibility of the Latin typefaces in English language used on US highway signs, focussing on the most significant findings on the characteristics of typefaces and the features that most affect legibility. The paper also discusses the methodological approaches used to examine legibility in conditions of driving and suggests that future research should pursue the application of findings in the field of reading research and be informed by design knowledge.

摘要

随着汽车的日益普及，由于公路系统的发展和交通量的不断增加带来的安全问题，通过标牌的视觉手段传递信息变得至关重要。本文对高速公路标志的易读性研究进行了回顾，并讨论了高速公路标志字体易读性的关键研究。它特别检查了美国高速公路标志上使用的英语拉丁字体的易读性，重点关注字体特征和最影响易读性的特征的最重要发现。