except, that applies if you are reading something top to bottom, like a book. That's not what I do on wikipedia, I scan for information.... and it is much easier to do that in wide format. What you end up actually reading is a paragraph or two. As a speed reader, I read in chunks, and in wide format it's actually not that bad, its not a wall of text. Most paragraphs end up to be 3-4 lines long and are naturally chunked by citation notes. I find it really easy. There is no one rule of typography, there is general guidance, but context matters. If in your head you've translated that to a "rule", you are doing it wrong.