What design element directs the sequence in which text is read?

Text hierarchy is a crucial design element that significantly influences the order in which text is read. It involves the arrangement of text elements, such as headlines, subheadings, and body text, in a way that clearly establishes their importance and relationship to one another. By using variations in size, weight, color, and placement, you create a visual hierarchy that guides the reader's eye through the content in a structured manner.

For instance, a larger, bold headline at the top of a page naturally attracts attention first, signaling to the reader that it contains the most important information. Subheadings can be presented in a slightly smaller size to indicate a secondary level of information, while body text is typically the smallest and serves as the detailed content that follows the established headings.

Effective use of text hierarchy not only improves readability but also enhances the user experience by helping the reader navigate the text intuitively. The other options—color contrast, white space, and text alignment—while important aspects of design that contribute to overall readability and aesthetics, do not primarily dictate the reading order of text as text hierarchy does. Color contrast enhances visibility, white space improves focus, and text alignment provides a clean visual flow, but it is the hierarchy that plays the defining role in