Visual arrangement of text: leading
Now that we've looking at spacing within individual words, what about spacing between lines? Here we need to consider leading. The term references strips of lead that were placed between lines of type in order add space—thus, the word is pronounced as if you were speaking of the metal "lead" instead of the verb to "lead".
Leading, or line-height as we will see it in CSS, is an under-considered aspect of web design that can both hamper as well as improve readability. Consider the two following examples:
Again, this appears on first glance to be minor. However, over an extended sequence of text increasing the amount of leading certainly helps the eye follow the text on the page or on the screen. But, like everything, too much of it (or too little of it) can (potentially) be detrimental as well:
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We will go much more into leading in the next section.