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Ascender (typography)
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Typography/byx4sANl">typography</a> and <a href="/facts/Handwriting/S9W0DHlo">handwriting</a>, an ascender is the portion of a <a href="/facts/Lower_case/KQcwaUUD">minuscule</a> <a href="/facts/Grapheme/uzXGIsAr">letter</a> in a Latin-derived alphabet that extends above the <a href="/facts/Mean_line/6Yb8UTha">mean line</a> of a <a href="/facts/Typeface/It41hIjl">font</a>. That is, the part of a lower-case letter that is taller than the font's <a href="/facts/X-height/lXpkGuqV">x-height</a>. </p><p>Ascenders, together with <a href="/facts/Descender/4Hlu3whC">descenders</a>, increase the recognizability of words. For this reason, many situations that require high legibility such as road signs avoid using solely <a href="/facts/Capital_letters/KQcwaUUD">capital letters</a> (i.e. <a href="/facts/All-caps/ASFdydxp">all-caps</a>). </p><p>Studies made at the start of the construction of the British <a href="/facts/Motorway/gaKATAGS">motorway</a> network concluded that words with mixed-case letters were much easier to read than "all-caps" and a special font was designed for motorway signs. These then became universal across the UK. See <a href="/facts/Road_signs_in_the_United_Kingdom/q4mmTJTp">Road signs in the United Kingdom</a>. </p> <p>In many fonts intended for body text, such as <a href="/facts/Bembo/xo8BvxKb">Bembo</a> and <a href="/facts/Garamond/pdJLjHUe">Garamond</a>, ascenders rise above the <a href="/facts/Cap_height/KW2LWzIt">cap height</a> of the capital letters. </p>