Makrotypografie als Verständlichkeitsfaktor

Abstract Easy-to-read (ETR) German aims to reduce communication barriers by simplifying both language and content as much as possible. For that purpose, a rigid rule-based practice is commonly used. The main target group are usually people with intellectual disability (ID) but other groups, e. g. functional illiterates, are also often intended addressees. The comprehensibility of ETR German texts, however, still awaits systematic empirical testing. The aim of the present study is to investigate macrotypography as a factor of text comprehensibility across different text types. A sample of individuals with ID and functional illiterates participated in qualitative interviews and was given a multiple-choice procedure in which typical ETR macrotypography and conventional text type macrotypography were compared. The results showed an advantage of the conventional macrotypographic design. In one case the text type was almost as easily recognized when ETR macrotypography was used. The analysis of the qualitative data, however, showed that it was primarily the participants with ID who were able to recognise the text type in this case. The outcome of the study therefore argues that conventional macrotypography may be more advantageous than the macrotypographic practice associated with ETR German.