Compares three linguistically motivated algorithms for assigning between-word space sizes for their impact on text readability. Finds that the readability of text can be improved with the aid of a rudimentary automatic parser. (PRA)

Discusses the types of overlapping speech, a common characteristic of speech that any annotation system must deal with. Critiques two types of current systems for marking overlaps. Describes software developed by the authors that not only accurately marks the boundaries of overlaps but presents them to the user in a readable format. (SR)

Discusses a preliminary study of the effect of ballot interface design on voting behavior. Finds significant problems related to human factors and the organization of information on the ballot on mechanical and electronic voting machines. (RS)

One of the most important, and most studied, aspects of human perception is the act of reading. Reading has received much attention from researchers, both from a human information processing (HIP) approach and as a common, practical act that needs to be optimized, especially in the realm of human-computer interaction (HCI). One of the text …

This paper describes a study designed to find out whether children's reading would be affected by line spacing that is wider or narrower than the commonly used default values. The realistic, high quality test material was set using a range of four different line spacing values, and twenty-four children in Years 1 and 2 (between five and seven…