Reading Online versus from Print Media

Stanford University and the Poynter Institute collaborated to do a study that started in 1998 to find how Internet readers see news on the Web. The technology implemented to test this study was an eyetracking device. Test subjects wore an SMI EyeLink system that recorded movements of the subjects’ eyes onto a computer database. The results of the 1998 test showed an unexpected strong preference for text over graphics upon entry to web pages. The 2004 Eyetrack III study yielded the following results:

• Headlines attract the focus by entering the page from the upper left and also the upper right.
• Online readers read a minimum of approximately five headlines, even when there are more headlines.
• The first several words of each headline are the most important.
• Flags and Logos are best placed in the upper left areas.
• Large type is used for light scanning of the eyes. Smaller type is read more often.

The Stanford Poynter Project Study, http://www.poynterextra.org