Technical Specification of Qualifiers
ANNEX “A”
Advertising materials requiring the presence of qualifiers in reference to claims or devices, such should comply with the following:
a. Text must be in lower-case with upper-case used only where normal for punctuation and in words or abbreviations commonly capitalized. Ornate, heavily serifed, italic typefaces and the like should be avoided.
b. Where the background to the text may be distracting (e.g. when it is moving or cuts from one view to another) it will normally be necessary to place the text on an opaque single-colored block.
c. Size of text should be prominently and clearly readable
d. DURATION OF HOLD
1) “Short” (9 words or less) captions: 0.2 seconds per word plus 2 seconds duration time.
Number of words/Duration in seconds, inclusive of recognition time.
| Number of Words | Number of Hold (In Seconds) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2.2 |
| 2 | 2.4 |
| 3 | 2.6 |
| 4 | 2.8 |
| 5 | 3.0 |
| 6 | 3.2 |
| 7 | 3.4 |
| 8 | 3.6 |
| 9 | 3.8 |
2) “Long” (10 words or more) captions: 0.2 seconds per word plus 3 seconds recognition time.
e. TEXT/BACKGROUND LEGIBILITY EFFECTS
1) Certain color combinations have been found to make text difficult to read and so should be avoided.
| Character (text) Color | Background |
|---|---|
| White | Yellow |
| Yellow | White, cyan |
| Cyan | Green, yellow |
| Green | Cyan, blue |
| Magenta | Red |
| Blue | Black |
2) Other acceptable combinations:
| Text Color | Background |
|---|---|
| White | Magenta, red, green, blue, black |
| Yellow | Blue |
| Cyan | Blue |
| Green | Yellow, white |
| Magenta | White, yellow, cyan (green) |
| Blue | White |
f. PRINTED MATERIALS (Print publication, merchandising materials, collaterals)
1) The acceptable type size for a qualifier should be no less than 10 point type. Such qualifier should be prominently readable.
2) Under no circumstances should asterisk symbols paired with footnotes be allowed to serve as qualifiers”.
g. OUTDOOR MATERIALS:
1) The acceptable size for a qualifier should be no less than 20 inches. Such qualifier should be prominently readable.
2) Under no circumstances should asterisk symbols paired with footnotes be allowed to serve as “qualifiers”.