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A cat with glasses preparing to read a book.

Have you ever wondered what a dyslexic person goes through?

Imagine a quiet room. Thomas, who is dyslexic, is reading a book. The text is printed in a standard font, with tightly spaced letters. As he reads, the words seem to blur and move while letters swap places.

All of a sudden, he feels frustrated. The effort it takes to read a paragraph is exhausting.

As an educator, you can help your students avoid this frustration by selecting dyslexia-friendly fonts for educational materials.

What is dyslexia? How does it affect learners?

A person holding a piece of paper that shows the definition of 'meaning'.

Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes it difficult to read and complete language-related tasks.

These issues can include difficulties in word recognition, poor spelling, and decoding abilities among others.

This can have a great impact on the reading process, since there are usually difficulties in attention and organization and confusion with concepts related to time and space.

Did you know?

The Internation Dyslexia Association has information about service providers for different areas and countries around the world.

Accommodating students with dyslexia

A man saying, 'I need your help'

Specific accommodations are needed for dyslexia. Dyslexia-friendly fonts can play a very important role.

Sans-serif fonts are suggested by educators because they don't have extending features called "serifs" at the ends of letters and numbers, so they're simpler to read. According to research, sans-serif fonts improve reading speed and comprehension.

Some examples of sans-serif fonts are:

  • Open-Dyslexic

  • Arial

  • Comic Sans

  • Verdana

  • Tahoma

Characteristics of dyslexia-friendly fonts

The readable fonts for dyslexia should be aligned with the following characteristics:

  • Font size should be 12-14 point or equivalent.

  • Larger inter-letter spacing improves access, approximately 35% of the average letter width.

  • Larger line spacing contributes to readability.

  • Italics and underlining should be avoided.

  • Lower case letters are easier to read.

Sentence 1: 'This text may not be accessible for someone with dyslexia. Sentence 2: 'This text is accessible and clear.'Image courtesy of the author, created in Canva.

Quiz

Why is increased letter spacing important in dyslexia-friendly fonts?

Other things to consider

Apart from using the right fonts, it's essential to consider color and layout.

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  • Use single-color backgrounds. This can reduce visual stress and distractions.

  • Apply effective contrast levels. For example, high contrast, such as black text on a cream-colored background, is traditionally recommended.

  • Align the text to the left, without justification. This can help readers track where lines begin and avoid getting lost.

  • Write short, simple sentences. This is useful to reduce the effort to decode the language.

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  • Avoid using white backgrounds.They canbe highly reflective and cause discomfort.

  • Don't use green or pink. They don't provide sufficient contrast with text and are really vibrant.

  • Avoid multiple columns. This can impede reading flow.

  • Don't write long, complex sentences. In general, they contain multiple ideas and complex structures that require greater cognitive processing.

Sentence 1 is long & written in a font which is difficult to read, with poor contrast. Sentence 2 has proper contrast.Image courtesy of the author, created in Canva.

Quiz

The text on the workbook page is in Arial font with narrow spacing. Which font change would be the best for dyslexic readers?

Inserting fonts in education materials

A middle-aged man saying, 'You have a lot of work to do.'

As teachers start to adapt materials for dyslexia, they often find inserting fonts challenging.

With OpenDyslexic.org, teachers can download the fonts for free and adapt their use to Chrome or Google Docs.

Another useful tool is Font Converter for Dyslexia, where you can paste in your text and it will automatically adapt to a suitable font.

Take Action

Choosing the right dyslexia-friendly fonts for education materials can be a challenge, but it will benefit your class!

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License:

This Byte has been authored by

RM

Romina Marazita

Instructional Designer / Neuroeducator /

MD

English

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