Typefaces for Dyslexia
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Typefaces for dyslexia. Publishers often ask the British Dyslexia Association which font style dyslexic people prefer. Some dyslexic people have expressed strong feelings about fonts, but there is no agreement apart from saying it should be a sans serif font. This document and all are in Verdana. We asked dyslexia forum members. Only a few people responded. So it may not be a burning issue for most dyslexic people. It is likely that spacing is just as important. • 5 liked Comic Sans, (and one reported that members of a focus group preferred it), but 2 hated it. One of those said he was not bothered which font, as long as it was not Comic Sans. • 3 liked Century Gothic. • Lego and Sassoon, for which you have to pay, got 1 vote each. • No one favoured Arial, while 1 disliked it. Others have also criticised it. See below: Arial, Comic Sans, Century Gothic, Verdana, Trebuchet, Tahoma. See Research below: Comparison on Iansyst web. Sassoon, Barrington Stoke, Lexia Readable, Read Regular, Sylexiad. 1 The researchers below found that dyslexic people liked • Good ascenders and descenders, • Space between letters, • Rounded 'a' and 'g', although 'a' and 'o' may be confused, as in 'boat'. • Non-mirror image 'b' and 'd'. • Different forms for capital 'I' lowercase 'l' and digit '1', as in 'Ill'. It is simpler to keep to sans serif fonts that are in Microsoft Office, though none have all the good points above. You can pay for other fonts for printing or for PDF files, or use free downloadable ones. However MS Word would not retain them for circulation, unless the recipients also had them. The fonts shown here are in 12 point, yet the size, the letter spacing and the line spacing vary considerably. Arial. In the early days of home computers, we asked dyslexic people to choose between serif Times New Roman and sans serif Arial. They chose Arial. • The letters are close together, and would be better with expansion. • You can get more text on a page, but that makes it harder to read. • The 'n' and 'u', 'b' and 'd' are mirror images. • 'r' and 'n' together, as in 'turn', look like 'm'. Compare: boat, Ill, turn. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. It is possible to vary the character spacing in any font (or condense it, though this is not recommended). These are Arial expanded (or condensed) by one point. 2 Comic Sans. Comic Sans is the most popular Microsoft font for children. • It has a rounded 'a' and 'g'. • The capital I is well distinguished from lowercase l and digit 1. Compare: boat, Ill, turn. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. Century Gothic. • Century Gothic has rounded a and g. • It has short ascenders and descenders so people who rely on letter shapes might not like it. Compare: boat, Ill, turn. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. Verdana. • Verdana is much bigger, at the same 12 point. • The letters are well spaced, but the descenders are very short. Compare: Ill, boat, turn. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. 3 Trebuchet. • The ascenders and descenders have better proportions than other fonts. • It has a curly g, which is unusual in sans serif fonts. Compare: Ill, boat, turn. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. Tahoma. Tahoma is another viable sans serif font. Compare: Ill, turn, boat. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0. Research: See Typefaces for Dyslexia in Iansyst web: The fonts below are not supplied by Microsoft. They all have a range of related fonts. You can buy Sassoon and Sylexiad. Lexia Readable is free. Sassoon. Rosemary Sassoon designed the Sassoon fonts for children, not necessarily dyslexic ones. Teachers like them. No one suggests them for adults. They are not free. They include rounded 'a' and 'g', and non- mirrored 'b' and 'd'. 4 "Overall, mainstream and special needs children chose letters with a slight slant, plain (sans serif) tops and exit strokes on the baseline. These help to clump the letters together into words. The added features were clear, open counters and slightly lengthened ascenders and descenders to accentuate the word shape." Barrington Stoke books: Patience Thomson, former head of Fairley House School for dyslexic pupils, was the co-founder of Barrington Stoke publishers. The company commissioned a specially designed font to expert guidelines, to encourage a smooth read. It is based on the natural style of handwriting. 5 Lexia Readable. Lexia Readable, is freely downloadable for Personal, School, College and Charity Use. It was designed for maximum legibility, an attempt to capture the strength and clarity of Comic Sans without the comic book associations. Features like the non-symmetrical b and d, and the handwritten forms of a and g may help dyslexic readers. Some people will object strongly to the unclosed b and p. Read Regular. Natascha Frensch, from the Netherlands, is dyslexic. She designed Read Regular while doing a master's degree at the London School of Art. The b and d are not mirror images. The a and g are rounded. 6 Sylexiad. Dr. Robert Hillier, a Senior Lecturer at Norwich University College of Arts designed 'Rob's Fonts'. "For the majority of dyslexic readers tested generous word spacing allied to the (light) weight and slightly condensed form (due to long ascenders and descenders) of the Sylexiad fonts were important. This would suggest that for subjects with reading difficulties it is the combination of spacing, weight and overall form of a typeface that is important rather than individual letterform design." Doctoral thesis 2007. 7 .