

JavaScript Justifies Everything (well, text anyway) - aristus
http://carlos.bueno.org/2010/04/sweet-justice.html

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jeremyswank
It doesn't hyphenate correctly. I get the word 'columns' hyphenated like this:
'colu-mns' and 'manuscript' as 'manuscri-pt'. A nice idea, but this
implementation is unusable. Justification without correct hyphenation is just
a non-starter.

~~~
jcapote
The source for it is right here: <http://github.com/aristus/sweet-justice>

~~~
carussell
Needs some Knuth:
[http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/113445055/abstrac...](http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/113445055/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0)

 _(Edit: bummer. A quick glance through the code at the following link leads
me to believe it doesn't actually do hyphenation, though I may be wrong.)_

[http://ajaxian.com/archives/tex-line-breaking-algorithm-
in-j...](http://ajaxian.com/archives/tex-line-breaking-algorithm-in-
javascript)

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qjz
Fascinating. I've always fully justified the text on the sites I work on. But
I've never compared samples side-by-side as demonstrated on this site. I was
immediately struck by how much easier the "ragged right" version is to read.
Something about fully justified text seems to slow me down.

~~~
petercooper
Your hunch is supported by research:
[http://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/research-about-
ragg...](http://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/research-about-ragged-right-
over-justified-alignment/)

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plesn
It would be cool to integrate that to Readability
(<http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/>)

~~~
petercooper
Readability's job is to make text easier to read, not harder. Fully justified
text is harder to read and has negative effects on retention.

[http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/05/03/justified-text-
versu...](http://www.adamsdrafting.com/2007/05/03/justified-text-versus-
ragged-right-text/)

Study 1:
[http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120024982/abstrac...](http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120024982/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0)

Study 2:
[http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordD...](http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED337749&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED337749)

The UK government also gives this advice in a style guide:

 _Avoid fully-justified text - the 'ragged' right edge can particularly help
people with dyslexia in keeping reading position._

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petercooper
It drives me nuts that iBooks or the Kindle doesn't use ragged right. Fully
justified text has been demonstrated to be harder to read by multiple studies
(though is arguably acceptable aesthetically for use in thin columns):
[http://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/research-about-
ragg...](http://kaiweber.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/research-about-ragged-right-
over-justified-alignment/)

I guess my point is.. don't be quick to jump on a bandwagon in order to
achieve an aesthetic ideal at the cost of readability.

