What Does It Say? Text Design, Medical Information, and Older Readers

This chapter is divided into three parts. In the first part, I discuss, in the context of medical information, those features of text design that make printed information easier to read and understand. In the second part, I indicate what research can tell us about the effects of aging in connection with these features. And in the third part, I discuss the implications of the findings reported in the second part. The basic, underlying theme throughout this chapter is that legibility matters for everyone, but that cognitive loads have to be reduced for older adults.