Many common UI patterns adopt an all caps styling for some interface elements, notably buttons. Typically in old shcool typographic standards, this effectively puts the x height of the resulting text string roughly equivalent to the cap height of the font size selected. It's not good for anything more than 1-2 words, at which point it starts to interfere with readability (as opposed to legibility).
Is this factored into any of the research? Will it be factored into the 3.0 standard?
Issues I see:
Typically, capital letters are very slightly heavier in weight than lower case letters. However, they're not a full weight step (e.g. 400 –> 500) up, so a blanket rule of "treat it as one step up" wouldn't necessarily work. Here's a test I did using Helvetica Neue 400 and 500, comparing lower case L to capital i.
Greater apparent x height won't necessarily produce better legibility based on the spatial frequency and contrast sensitivity curve. Or maybe the larger spaces inherent in capital letters do, in fact produce better legibility. This might need some empirical testing.
What does letter spacing do to the whole thing? Wider letter spacing should, hypothetically, create wider spatial frequency, improving both legibility and (to a point) readability. This is a classic typographic maneuver, especially with short titles (e.g. headlines, buttons). Letter spacing might want its own separate issue.
Many common UI patterns adopt an all caps styling for some interface elements, notably buttons. Typically in old shcool typographic standards, this effectively puts the x height of the resulting text string roughly equivalent to the cap height of the font size selected. It's not good for anything more than 1-2 words, at which point it starts to interfere with readability (as opposed to legibility).
Is this factored into any of the research? Will it be factored into the 3.0 standard?
Issues I see:
Typically, capital letters are very slightly heavier in weight than lower case letters. However, they're not a full weight step (e.g. 400 –> 500) up, so a blanket rule of "treat it as one step up" wouldn't necessarily work. Here's a test I did using Helvetica Neue 400 and 500, comparing lower case L to capital i.
Greater apparent x height won't necessarily produce better legibility based on the spatial frequency and contrast sensitivity curve. Or maybe the larger spaces inherent in capital letters do, in fact produce better legibility. This might need some empirical testing.
What does letter spacing do to the whole thing? Wider letter spacing should, hypothetically, create wider spatial frequency, improving both legibility and (to a point) readability. This is a classic typographic maneuver, especially with short titles (e.g. headlines, buttons). Letter spacing might want its own separate issue.