![]() There’s no ambiguity between letters and numerals, like capital “i” and “I” and “1”s. It has a larger letter height and generous spacing between each letter. Scope’s brand font Hargreaves has multiple accessible design features. The best way to find out which font your users prefer is to do user research. Some fonts are especially designed to be accessible for a specific group of people.īut not all ‘specialist’ fonts have research and user testing to back up their claims. This is especially a problem with narrow, condensed fonts. But for usability, it’s easier to choose a font that has adequate spacing between letters as default. You can manually edit the spacing between letters (also known as ‘tracking’). Similarly, too much spacing between letters can also make text hard to read. It can cause letters to blur together and become confused with other letter shapes.įor example, “r” and “n” next to one another can easily look like an “m” without enough spacing. This can create barriers for certain readers. And some fonts have less spacing between characters by default.Ĭhoosing a tightly packed font can cause letters to overlap and words to look squashed. Letter spacing is another important factor in font accessibility. Particularly for some people with dyslexia who may prefer unique character shapes.Įxamples of fonts that do not use mirrored letter shapes include: But this can cause some barriers for certain readers. Often designers use mirrored letter shapes for consistency and to speed up the design process. For example, “d” and “b” and “p” and “q”. Similarly, some characters look the same when you flip them horizontally. Some good examples of fonts with more defined letter shapes are Tahoma and Verdana. Instead, choose a font with distinct features on these characters. Depending on the font, and how narrow the openings are in the “e” and “c” letter shapes, these can all look very similar. This can also occur with “e”, “c” and “o” characters. Comparing upper case ‘i’, lower case ‘L’ and 1 in Gill Sans and Tahoma. The upper case “i”, lower case “l” and the number “1” look the same next to one another. An example of a font that does this is Gill Sans. These are sometimes called ‘imposter’ letter shapes. Some font families use practically identical letter shapes for different characters. This can affect reading speed and comprehension. When certain characters look similar, the brain has to work harder. Each character looks distinct from one another This particularly applies to handwriting and script-style fonts. These irregularities mean we have to pause to examine and process the characters. This is because the letter shapes are not well-defined or regular in shape and size. Even if you’re using them sparingly as headings. Without needing to read individual letters or words.įonts that are very elaborate or ornate can be difficult to read or see clearly. This is because most people scan through text quickly when they read. If you want to choose a font that’s accessible to a wide audience, look for the following: Simplicity and familiarityįonts with simple, familiar shapes are generally easier to read. ![]() This is because the added strokes can make the characters more distinct. But also because they can improve readability for certain users. Some serif fonts (like Times New Roman) are popular for a reason. It’s a common myth that all serif fonts are inaccessible. Research suggests serif and san-serif fonts work for different groups of people. An example of a sans-serif font is Arial. Sans-serif fonts do not have ornate, decorative strokes. ![]() An example of a serif font is Times New Roman. Serif fonts have decorative strokes at the end of each letter. Here are some common fonts that are generally more readable than others:Įxperts disagree on whether sans-serif fonts are better than serif fonts for readability. The good news is, many common and standard system fonts are accessible. conditions like Irlen syndrome that affect the way the brain processes visual informationĬhoosing your font Best standard fonts for accessibility.Font choice can particularly affect people who have: This can make it difficult to choose one single, ‘accessible’ font. ![]() The accessibility of a font can vary with different needs. The more readable your font is, the more likely it is that people reading your content can: But some fonts are generally easier to read than others. It’s unlikely you’ll find a single best font for reading that will suit all your users’ needs. They are an important part of how visually accessible your information is. Whether that’s on your website, in documents or in the graphics you share on social media.
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