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Is this a matter of preference, or are there reasons for this? Is non-justified text more accessible? Or maybe because of smaller screens?
According to caniuse `text-align: justify` is still not widely supported [1]. At this point, with how long people have had to get used to non-justified text online, it probably wouldn't be commonly used even after it becomes widely supported.
The specs for the justify property illustrate some of the challenges in implementation [2].
[1] https://caniuse.com/css-text-justify
[2] https://drafts.csswg.org/css-text-3/#text-justify-property
There are ways to work around those issues (all of them hacks: deforming characters and spaces in between), but even most professional design software doesn’t support the full range of features. Last I checked, Adobe Illustrator didn’t support that kind of granularity (though Adobe Indesign did) and neither did web browsers.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographic_alignment#Problems...
Most people really do prefer justified text. Lots of webdevs probably get excited when they realize browsers have built-in justification too.
“[Citation needed]”. Justified text (more often than not) looks awful[1] and breaks reading rhythm (even if not consciously perceived). That doesn’t prove your claim is incorrect; I’m pointing it out to explain why I find it dubious. What’s your source to say that most people prefer it?
It’s because the primitive line-breaking algorithm used by browers, combined with the lack of hypenation in most cases, leads to a poor result, especially in narrow columns. Look up “greedy line breaking”.
My guess is that it's simply a tech challenge. Justifying text seems non-trivial, especially if hyphenation is used (which I believe is typically the case in print, otherwise you get huge spaces). According to caniuse `text-align: justify` is still not widely supported [1]. At this point, with how long people have had to get used to non-justified text online, it probably wouldn't be commonly used even after it become…
Most people really do prefer justified text. Lots of webdevs probably get excited when they realize browsers have built-in justification too.
Justification falls apart on mobile web where too few words can fit on a line and then you get big gaps between words.
On longer lines, a ragged right edge makes a good visual guide to keep the eye on the right line while reading a wide justified paragraph is hard to keep track of while reading.
https://medium.com/@meetchopz/10-bad-typography-habits-that-...
Most people really do prefer justified text. Lots of webdevs probably get excited when they realize browsers have built-in justification too.
Most people don't really know what's good for them... Justification falls apart on mobile web where too few words can fit on a line and then you get big gaps between words. On longer lines, a ragged right edge makes a good visual guide to keep the eye on the right line while reading a wide justified paragraph is hard to keep track of while reading. https://medium.com/@meetchopz/10-bad-typography-habits-that-...