Tap List TV Font Size: The Across-the-Room Test

Type on a tap list TV is big enough when a guest who hasn't seen the list reads every line, prices and ABV included, from the farthest spot where people order. A good starting size is about 1 inch of capital letter height for every 30 feet. Below are the starting math, how many lines that leaves on a screen, the across-the-room test that settles it, a filled test sheet, and the fixes to try in order.

How big should the type be on a tap list TV?

Start with the smallest capital letter or digit on the screen at about 1 inch tall for every 30 feet between the screen and the far ordering spot. The Federal Highway Administration's 2009 traffic sign manual tells sign designers to use at least that ratio: 1 inch of letter height per 30 feet of legibility distance.

There is also a floor. EyeWiki, the American Academy of Ophthalmology's eye encyclopedia, explains that a Snellen eye chart letter is sized so its full height covers 5 minutes of arc, or 1/12 of a degree, at the distance it's read from. That is the smallest letter a 20/20 eye can make out. At 30 feet (360 inches), it works out to 360 x 0.00145 = 0.52 inch.

Type right at the floor leaves no margin for glare, a dim room or weaker eyes, which is why the starting size sits at about 2 times the floor.

The starting size is a first guess. Screen brightness, the angle from the far spot, the lighting at 9 pm and the typeface all move the real answer, so the test further down has the final say.

No law hands you the number. The U.S. Access Board's guide to the ADA sign standards lists menus among the sign types exempt from its visual and tactile requirements.

How many lines fit on one screen at that size?

The lines that fit on 1 screen equal the usable picture height divided by the space each line takes, and that space grows with distance. Here is the math for a far spot 30 feet away. Swap in your own measurements.

Inputs:

• Far ordering spot: 30 feet.
• Starting capital height: 30 / 30 = 1.0 inch.
• Space per line: 2 x 1.0 = 2.0 inches. This example assumes a line of type plus the gap to the next line takes about 2 times the capital height. Measure 5 lines on your own board and divide by 5 to check.
• Picture height: 27 inches. On a 16:9 screen the picture is about 0.49 times the diagonal tall, so a screen measuring 55 inches on the diagonal has a picture about 27 inches tall.
• Logo or title band at the top: 3 inches.

Usable height is 27 - 3 = 24 inches, so the screen holds 24 / 2.0 = 12 lines at the starting size. Here is the same screen at other distances:

A 16 tap list with 4 section headers needs 20 lines. At 15 feet, 1 screen like this holds it with room left for On Deck. At 30 feet, the same list needs 2 screens or a screen hung closer to the guests.

Doubling the distance halves the lines, so the far ordering spot decides how many screens you need about as much as the tap count does. Once the test gives you a real count, plan each screen 2 lines under it, as planning what each screen carries explains.

Where should you measure from?

Measure from the far ordering spot: the farthest place where a guest still needs this screen to pick a beer and order it. That spot is often closer than the farthest seat in the building, and it's never where you stood to build the board.

• Counter-service taproom: the back of the ordering line on a busy night. Guests decide while they wait, before they reach the counter.
• Beer bar or beer hall: the far end of the bar, or the stool that sees the screen at the steepest angle.
• Sports bar: the far end of a long bar, plus the spot behind the seated guests where people stand to order.
• Table ordering: if guests at tables order off the screen, the far table counts too.

If 2 spots compete, test both and keep the worse result. Run a tape measure from the spot to the screen, or pace it off after checking your stride against the tape, and write the distance down in feet. Don't estimate it from behind the bar, where every line looks sharp from 4 feet away.

How do you run the across-the-room test?

Put the full list up under service lighting, stand a tester who hasn't seen the list at the far ordering spot, and have them read every line out loud while you mark each one pass or fail.

Set up first:

• Load the screen the way it looks on your busiest night: every tap, every section header, On Deck and the longest names you pour. A half-empty screen has room for big type and passes a test the real list would fail.
• Leave kicked lines up if your board keeps them. On a TapDisplay board, a kicked beer stays on the list struck through, labeled KICKED on keg menus or SOLD OUT on other menus. The word comes from your business type, and the line takes up a row like any other.
• Run it at night with the house lights where they sit at 9 pm.
• Print an exact copy of what's on the screen and bring a pen.

Then run it:

1. Pick a tester who hasn't seen this list. Whoever built it reads from memory. If you can, run it again with a second person.
2. Put the tester at the far ordering spot. You stand near the screen with the printout.
3. The tester reads every line out loud, top to bottom: beer name, style, ABV, and each pour size with its price. Section headers too.
4. Mark each line pass or fail. A line passes only if every field comes out right with no stepping forward, no leaning in and no "is that a 6 or an 8?" A single wrong number fails the whole line, because the guest orders on that number.
5. Next to each fail, write the field that missed.
6. At the bottom of the sheet, write "Lines passed: ___ of ___."

What do the failed lines tell you?

The failed lines tell you which fix to try first, depending on where they sit:

• Numbers fail and names pass: the small fields are too small. A board with big beer names over tiny prices fails this way.
• Long styles fail: they were squeezed to fit the line, often into a condensed face.
• Lines fail all the way down the screen: the list is too long for this screen at this distance, and the whole thing was shrunk to fit.
• Only lines on one side fail: that points to angle or glare, which is a placement problem. Where to hang menu screens and which way up covers it.

What does a filled test sheet look like?

A filled sheet lists each failed line, what the tester read, and the pass count. This one is made up: a 16 tap beer bar with 4 sections and On Deck, 24 lines in all, and a far ordering spot at the end of the bar by the door, 20 feet from the screen. The tester is a new server who hasn't seen the list.

Round 1, at 9 pm under service lighting:

Lines passed: 19 of 24.

Every fail is a number or a long style, and no beer name failed. On this board the names were set large, with the ABV, prices and styles smaller and in a condensed face, so the fix starts with type.

In round 2, the ABV, prices and styles go up close to the size of the beer names, in a heavier weight and a plain face. At the new size, 20 lines fit: all 4 sections, through tap 16. A second tester who hasn't seen the list reads all 20 from the same spot, and 20 of 20 pass.

The bar writes down 20. On Deck no longer fits on this screen, so the next decision is where it goes, and what belongs on deck helps with that. Then they measure the smallest capital on the screen: about 0.7 inch at 20 feet, close to the 0.67 inch starting size in the first table.

Should you fix the type or cut the list?

Fix the type first, and cut the list only after the type passes. If you cut first, you never learn what size the far spot needs, and you end up cutting again next month. Work through these in order and rerun the test after each change:

1. Raise the smallest field. ABV, pour size and price should sit close to the size of the beer name, since guests order on them. How to show ABV, IBU, style and pour size covers wording that keeps those fields short.
2. Use a heavier weight. Thin strokes fade at distance, while regular or medium holds up.
3. Use a plain face. Skip script, chalk effects, distressed letters and anything tightly condensed. Condensed type is often how a long style got onto the line in the first place.
4. Check the digits. The digits 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9 blur together in some faces. If 6.5% and 6.8% look alike from the far spot, try another face before you touch the list.
5. Add space between lines, enough that the eye can follow a line across to its price without slipping to the next one.

Once the type passes, make the list fit the room you have: shorten a long style, trim a descriptor, or move whole sections to another screen. Keep the same field order and section order you'd use on paper, which how to write a tap list lays out.

How do you change type size on a TapDisplay board?

On a TapDisplay board you keep the type large by keeping each screen's list short enough to fit. When a screen's list runs long, TapDisplay shrinks the type to fit, then turns pages, so every line you add to a screen can cost type size. A guest waiting for page 2 to find a price is still deciding when the bartender gets to them, so plan screens that don't page in normal service.

The fixes above map onto the board like this:

• Too many lines on one screen: split one list across several screens, or give each screen its own sections. TapDisplay pricing is $49 a month or $499 a year per location with unlimited screens, so adding a screen to keep the type large doesn't change the bill.
• Weight, face and digits: these come with the look. TapDisplay has 19 looks, each with your logo and your accent color, and you can't upload your own fonts. If digits blur from the far spot, switch looks and rerun the test.
• Too many small numbers on a line: each line shows 2 pours by default and up to 4. Every extra pour is another price the far guest has to read right, so check that a third or fourth pour earns its space.

You can make each change from a phone, a tablet or a computer while the tester waits at the far spot. Each connected screen checks for changes every 30 seconds, so give the screen about 30 seconds before the next read.

When should you run the test again?

Run the test again whenever the distance, the screen or the list changes:

• A screen is added, moved or rehung.
• The look, typeface or layout changes.
• The far ordering spot moves: a new patio line, more tables, a new order point.
• The list grows by a section, or a new longest name or style goes up.

Keep the sheet with the date, the distance, the pass count and the smallest letter height you measured, so the next person starts from those numbers. Letter height scales with distance, which gives every new screen a starting point. If the same bar adds a screen by the growler counter with a far spot 12 feet away, it starts at about 0.7 x 12 / 20 = 0.42 inch, and that screen still gets its own test.

The bottom line

Type on a tap list TV is big enough when a guest who hasn't seen the list reads every line, numbers included, from the farthest spot where people order. Start near 1 inch of capital height per 30 feet, test with the full list up under service lighting, and fix the type before you cut the list. Keep the sheet so the next screen or the next move starts from a measured number.