Page line length

[harriet1]

One of our users has asked the following question, but I am not sure if there is any feature on Canvas to change line length?

"Is there anything you can do (or ask the platform to do) about line lengths on the pages of reading? I checked one just now, and it’s 110 characters. The ideal line length for reading is about 70 characters (check any physical book around you - you’ll find that’s their line length, no matter the size of the book). Longer than that and it really strains the eyes to read, as you have to move your eyes physically from side to side, you can’t take a line in at a glance. And it’s already hard enough to read long texts on a screen"

[Stef_retired]

 @harriet1 , on the assumption that the user is referring to text displayed on a Canvas page, the page width is responsive, so the line lengths (as measured in character count) will vary according to how wide or narrow the browser has been set by that user. Could you ask the user to specify where this set character width is occurring?

[harriet1]

Thanks Stephanie for your reply. I don't suppose you know how to amend the browser settings to reduce the line lengths? I believe the user is operating with Chrome.

The character width is appearing on all of their pages so they want to reduce the character line length so it is easier to read.

[James · Accepted solution]

 @harriet1  

As stefaniesanders mentioned, this is a function of the width of your browser. Don't maximize the browser and drag it narrower and you'll get fewer characters per line.

For example, here is what Canvas looks like on my screen -- which is 1920px wide, but Canvas limits the width to 1366px.

Here's the same thing when I resize my screen to 1280px wide.

And here it is at 1024px wide.

Another way to control the line width is to collapse or expand the course menu. It allows more space per line when collapsed and less space per line when expanded.

[Stef_retired]

Great tip about hiding the course navigation,  @James !