“Every child and adult should be able to realize their reading potential. By dedicating our resources towards awareness and considering different and complex studies on Dyslexia, we’re always evolving to make the user-friendly font accessible in today’s digital and print landscape.” – Christian Boer
Fonts designed for dyslexia aim to improve readability and reduce visual stress for people with dyslexia. These fonts typically incorporate specific features to enhance the reading experience for dyslexic readers. To design the dyslexia-friendly typeface, all typography rules and standards were ignored. Here are some common characteristics of dyslexia-friendly fonts:
1. Open and unique Letterforms: Dyslexia-friendly fonts often feature open letterforms to make it easier to distinguish between letters. This means that letters have distinct shapes and are less likely to be confused with one another such as „b“ and „d“.
2. Increased Letter Spacing: Wider letter spacing prevents letters from merging into one another, reducing the chances of misreading.
3. Weight Variation: Some dyslexia-friendly fonts use variations in stroke thickness to make letters more distinct.
4. Clear Descenders and Ascenders: Descenders (the parts of letters that extend below the baseline, such as in ‚g‘ or ‚y‘) and ascenders (the parts that extend above the x-height, such as in ‚h‘ or ‚b‘) are often more prominent in dyslexia-friendly fonts, making it easier to differentiate between letters.
Several fonts have been designed specifically for people with dyslexia over the years, and some of them are:
– Dyslexie: Developed by Christian Boer, Dyslexie is a typeface that incorporates many of the aforementioned features. It has gained popularity for its efforts to enhance readability for dyslexic readers.
– OpenDyslexic: This font is open-source and freely available. It emphasizes distinct letter shapes and increased letter spacing to improve reading for individuals with dyslexia.
– Lexie Readable: Lexie Readable is a font designed by Lexie Dyslexia Institute. It focuses on clarity and simplicity, with open letterforms and increased spacing.
San serif fonts are also a great way to help someone who has dyslexia. San serif fonts create more visual separation between the letters which helps readers read and comprehend texts more easily. Here are some standard san serif fonts that would be good options when designing for people with dyslexia:
- Helvetica
- Verdana
- Arial
- Century Gothic
- Tahoma
- Trebuchet
There is no hard research that proves that fonts designed for dyslexia improve reading speed. However, a master thesis by Renske de Leeuw of the University of Twente found that fonts like Dyslexie had an overall reduction in reading errors.
It’s important to note that while these fonts may be helpful for some individuals with dyslexia, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Different people may find different fonts more or less helpful based on their individual needs and preferences. Additionally, other factors such as background color, text size, and line spacing can also influence readability for individuals with dyslexia.
References and relevant links:
https://dyslexiefont.com/en/typeface/?_ga=2.246587012.1697522350.1702816263-1541481720.1702816263
https://medium.com/codex/accessibility-fonts-and-dyslexia-3cc495795127
