Speed reading on the computer screen
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Like any other information junkie, my browser is full of open tabs of material that I would have liked to have read, but simply lost interest or took too long to read. It occurred to me that I would normally read books at a faster pace, but somehow the screen wasn’t conducive for speed reading. The answer came a couple of weeks ago. Looking for something to read at the beach, I found an old second hand book bought at the friends-of-the-library sale. It was Tony Buzan’s “Use Both Sides of Your Brain”. It reminded me that I was using the finger as an eye-guide, to steady the vision. This I did not do when reading on the computer.
A quick search on the net turned up little. There were some text flashing software which plays back text on a fixed point on the screen. It wasn’t what I was looking for. In the end, this is what I did:
1) Switched mouse pointers to large
2) Changed the Text Select pointer from a vertical beam to a a hand pointing with an index finger.
3) Increased font-sizes on the browser.
4) Adjusted browser window so that the length of a line of text resembles that of a book.
(I’d have loved to post a screenshot, but Windows refuses to capture the mouse pointer)
The net result was satisfying. I was able to emulate the pace of natural reading.
If you have tried this, or found other techniques that work, please let me know.
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No. 1 — August 4th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Your ’speed reading’ is similar to the way I read all my text on the web, where possible. I used to teach reading for 15 years – it’s good to see somebody talk about effectiveness, not just technology.
Google seems to get it. They let us use html features to increase the line length and set the font size without blocking our efforts to control the layout of what we read. Lots of magazine content is just the opposite, probably so that advertising can fit into your peripheral vision and to make sure that the page layout looks catchy.
No. 2 — August 4th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Thanks Phil. I liked the remark about peripheral vision and google ads.
No. 3 — December 21st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Great suggestions.
I’d also suggest changing your mouse sensitivity so that it moves faster. This should allow you to swipe the text more effectively.
Adding a short mouse trail can also help guide the eye.