Point size for large-print books?

Factual Questions
1

Does anyone know whether there is a standard type size or standard range of type sizes for large-print books for the elderly and those with vision deficiencies?

Thanks

2

Don’t have an answer, but the choice of font would be just as important as the size.

3

What are the dimensions of the book?
What type of justification?
How many images will be in the book (per page average)? With captions? How long will the captions be?
How many pages (actual & desired)?

There are quite a few factors that control text size and they have to be weighed and prioritzed. I’m sure someone else will be along shortly to add to the list of questions.

4

I don’t have answers to any of these questions. How do these questions affect the answer?

All I need is a generalised, perhaps a range, that large-print books usually used. Yes, I realise that point size varies from one typeface to another. Is it possible to describe the x height in millimeters or fractions of an inch?

5

The last one of these I saw looked like it was about 12-14 pt. No idea if that’s the industry standard.

6

I just pulled four LP books off my shelf more or less at random (just making sure I got four different publishers) and here’s what I came up with by comparing with a page printed in Times New Roman:

Albom, Mitch. The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Random House. 16 pt.
Archer, Jeffrey. First Among Equals. G. K. Hall. 16 pt.
Auster, Paul. The Book of Illusions. Thorndike. 16 pt.
Crichton, Michael. State of Fear. Harper. 16 pt.

Hope this helps.

7

Even if two typefaces have exactly the same x-height, they probably won’t appear to be the same size, and one will probably be more legible than the other. Entire books have been written about this, and there’s no easy answer. This is why book design should be left to professionals.

And I can’t conceive of measuring x-height in fractions of an inch. :eek:

8

If the book has a small dimension relative to the type you will have too few words per line. Combine that with (for example) forced justification you could end up with a line of text with large gaps between the words. If you add a photo to the page you may only have room for one or two words per line depending on how much room the photo leaves on each side, and a caption will only take up more room on the page. The justification, and text size increase will also increase the length of the book which will cause cost issues.

As fas as I know there is no industry standard for vision impared type size, I believe it may be more of a matter of… such-and-such font has to be this tall and this wide in millimeters.

You have to take into concideration the thickness of the font’s typeface. For instance:

AbCd ---- Arial black

AbCd ---- Book Antiqua

AbCd ---- Arial

AbCd ---- Garamond

AbCd ---- Century Gothic

These are identical font sizes, but their footprint on the page has quite a range. So that’s why you have to know what type of font you’re using.

9

Oh, and FWIW, all four of the books I examined appeared to be printed in a Times or very Times-like face.

10

Oh, and this is what the National Association for the Visually Handicapped has to say on their website:

11

I just checked here… No one’s aware of any print standards for handicapped text compliance. It’s a matter of getting together with someone who knows what to look for in an easy to read typeface for the handicapped and guesstimating what your audience would find to be a comfortable reading size.

Edit: See above for that someone!

12

Thanks for the info, folks!