Attachment-J-TypographicStandards.pdf

WAYSIDE EXHIBITS

Attachment J, Typographic Standards

9/21/2022

The Typographic Standards are one of many tools used to create a consistent recognizable format for organizing and presenting information to the public. These standards along with National Park Service identity standards, editorial standards, map standards, consistent work processes, and maintenance programs help keep costs down and visitor interest in the wayside media at a high level.

Typefaces Wayside Exhibits use NPS brand approved NPS Rawlinson and Adobe Frutiger. A third font may be incorporated into a design but should only be used to augment the design and not be used to replace standard typographic elements such as the main title, main text, or NPS branding elements. Visit the NPS Branding site to learn more information on NPS Fonts and to download NPS Rawlinson and Frutiger.

NPS Rawlinson and Frutiger are provided to NPS employees. NPS Rawlinson can be provided to contractors or other third parties doing work for the NPS. Frutiger cannot be provided to a third party unless they have an existing license or purchase a license through one of the many font retailers like MyFonts.

Accessibility The design elements of typography (typeface, size, weight, style, leading, line length, color, and kerning) provide readers with visual clues to the nature and hierarchy of information. The following typographic styles will enhance overall accessibility to wayside content by creating logical patterns, legible text, and reflect the appropriate voice of the National Park Service.

Built into all Wayside Grids The wayside grid files include Paragraph Styles for text, caption, titles, and quotes. By using these preset styles, you will ensure your type settings conform to NPS standards for legibility, https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/doi-NPSBrand/SitePages/Graphic-Identity.aspx#official-nps-fonts https://www.myfonts.com/collections/frutiger-font-linotype https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/nps-hfc-waysides/SitePages/Wayside-Grids.aspx branding, hierarchy, size, and consistency. In addition, all styles include 508 tags that support accessible PDF creation.

Point Size

Wayside Paragraph Styles are set to strike a balance between legibility and the limitations of space on a wayside exhibit.

Line Spacing

Wayside Paragraph Styles set line spacing (leading) to maximize legibility and readability.

Letter and Word Spacing

Paragraph Styles specified in the grids use metric kerning for text and optical kerning for titles. Custom adjustments may be necessary to refine letter and word spacing.

Paragraph Line Lengths

Paragraph lines set too short (less than 5 words per line) require tedious re-acquisition of the beginning of each line. Lines set too long (greater than 20 words per line) can cause readers to lose their place when moving from one line to the next. A line length of 10 - 15 words is optimal for wayside exhibit text and captions.

Single-line labels such as warnings or captions can be set at longer lengths.

Alignment

Text legibility is greater when set in flush left, ragged right alignment. All wayside text with the exception of labels should be set flush left with a loose open right rag.

Hyphenation

Hyphenation should be avoided, as piecing back together the parts of hyphenated words can be an obstacle for readers with impaired vision. Wayside Paragraph Styles are set for no hyphenation. When adjusting the rag, use shift-return keys, or adjust the box shape, rather than using letter spaces or hard returns. Hard returns will designate the line as a new paragraph in the accessible PDF version of the wayside.

Color and Contrast

There are three perceptual attributes of color that affect contrast. They are hue, saturation, and lightness. Contrast based on lightness is more effective than contrast based on hue or saturation. Avoid text against complicated backgrounds. Mask out, darken, lighten, or blur areas to achieve a goal of 70% lightness difference between text and background. Avoid large solid white backgrounds to reduce glare and to hide visible dirt and dust.

Content and Layout

Layouts that present a clear hierarchical flow contribute to legibility and clarity. Place related text and graphics in close proximity and create logical progressions. Avoid decorative elements so as not to obscure or distract from the content. Simple layouts that convey information visually are preferable because of their inherent clarity.

Ellipses

Three small dots are used to represent any omission within a quoted passage. Keep things simple and avoid using “four-dot ellipses” (a period with ellipses). Use the ellipses character from the Glyphs menu in InDesign with no space before or after the ellipses. Using all periods will distract a screen reader in PDF accessible version. Access ellipses using key commands (Mac opt+;)(PC alt+;).

Em and En Dashes

Phrases in sentences should be set off by an em-dash. An em-dash is created using the glyphs palette or using a key command. (Mac Opt+shift+hyphen)(PC Alt+shift+hyphen)

Saguaro reproduction begins during the hottest, dryest times of the year—late spring and early summer.

Use an en-dash to indicate a range (such as in a range of time, 5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., or dates, 1963–1997). An en-dash is created using the glyphs palette or using a key command.

(Mac Opt+ hyphen)(PC Alt+hyphen).

Kerning may need to be adjusted so that the en-dash is evenly spaced, especially between 1 or 7.

Do not use hyphens, single or double (- or --) for either type of dash. Consult the NPS Editorial Style Guide for appropriate use of hyphens.

Directional Cues

Avoid using image directional cues in text such as (left). Position images, labels, or paragraphs so the association is obvious. Write separate labels if necessary. Directional cues are a distraction and will also be confusing to a screen reader in the accessible PDF.

Fractions and Measurements

Fractions should be set as a true typeset fraction, like 1½, not as a keyboard fraction, 1 1/2.

This can be done in InDesign by using the correct fraction from the glyphs menu or using the Opentype contextual menu from the Character panel.

Measurements are given in both English and metric. When used in text, English measure is given, followed by the abbreviated metric equivalent in parentheses. Metric is set lowercase Roman, use one space between the figure and the metric unit. Periods are not used with the metric abbreviation and the abbreviated symbol is always singular.

In Pine Creek a 14-inch (36 cm) rainbow trout is common.

Foreign Language

When a second language is used in a wayside exhibit it is preferable to set it in a different color from the English text without losing reducing contrast or legibility. Do not set the second language in italics.

Often other languages use additional characters in their alphabets. Those special characters can be created on Macintosh keyboards using the following key-stroke combinations:

Accents – Option e, then the appropriate vowel character á é í ó ú

Circumflex – Option i then character (rare in Spanish) î

Tilde – Option n, then character. ñ

Umlaut – Option u, then character. Mostly used for diphthong vowels. ü ö

Cedilla – Option c (very rare, mostly archaic) ç

Questions in Spanish – Option, shift, question mark. ¿

Exclamations in Spanish – Option 1 ¡

Hawaiian Language

Many Hawaiian words require a kahakō (-) and an ʻokina (ʻ). For example: ʻŌhi‘a lehua.

Hawaiian marks are included in NPS Rawlinson. The NPS created a version of Frutiger that includes the ʻokina called HFrutiger which is available on the NPS Branding sharepoint site.

Both kahakō and ʻokina can be accessed by switching to the Hawaiian language keyboard on either Mac and PC. Once the keyboard is enabled, a kahakō is used by holding down opt/alt and then typing the vowel. A ʻokina by typing is used by typing an apostrophe.

Paragraph styles are arranged by content type and include black and white color options. First number indicates the type size followed by the leading.

Ellipses with em spacing before and after https://doimspp.sharepoint.com/sites/doi-NPSBrand/SitePages/Graphic-Identity.aspx#official-nps-fonts