{"id":7505,"date":"2023-11-14T21:44:23","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T21:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/?p=7505"},"modified":"2025-03-03T15:50:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:50:30","slug":"the-best-typeface-for-people-with-dyslexia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/2023\/11\/14\/the-best-typeface-for-people-with-dyslexia\/","title":{"rendered":"The best typeface for people with dyslexia"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Illustration: Lia Popaz IG: @lippo.ai<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The best typeface for people with dyslexia<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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By: Hanna Wallstr\u00f6m IG: @lowallstrom<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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14 November, 2023<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Usually, when reading, we don\u2019t often reflect on whether the kind of font used in a text has its downsides. Times New Roman is often the default font when writing assignments or exams at Malm\u00f6 University. This may cause students to trust this font above others and default to it even when they are writing outside academia. But what if I told you that it\u2019s not the best typeface to use when writing articles for the public?<\/strong><\/p>

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There are a few categories for different fonts. The most common are called serif and sans serif, but what does that mean? A<\/strong> serif typeface<\/strong> has small strokes, or extensions, at the end of the letters\u2019 longer strokes. Such fonts are mainly used for longer texts as they have traditionally been seen as easier to read. Times New Roman, Georgia, and Courier<\/strong> are different kinds of serifs. A font that is sans serif<\/strong> doesn\u2019t have the small strokes and has a cleaner and more modern look. It\u2019s more commonly used for headlines. Our University logo has a sans serif typeface. Helvetica, Arial, and Calibri<\/strong> are some of the popular sans serifs. There are, of course, other kinds of fonts,<\/strong> such as slab serif<\/strong>, which have a thicker look to them.\u00a0<\/p>

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So, what is the easiest typeface to use? This is a complicated question to answer because, in reality, the easiest font to read depends on how used a person is to reading a specific font. However, through research, it has been revealed that sans serif may be the best font to use when targeting a broader readership. Specifically, it\u2019s easier for people with dyslexia to read different kinds of texts if they are in sans serif. Additionally, it\u2019s easier for them to read a font that is in roman with monospaced letters<\/strong>. The fonts shouldn\u2019t be in cursive, and the letters should be equally spaced to enhance readability. Arial<\/strong> is an excellent example of a font that is sans serif with a high readability, but this significantly decreases when Arial is in italics. While Arial is not monospaced, the typeface Courier<\/strong> is an example of a monospaced serif that is easier to read because the spaces around the letters are the same in that font.<\/p>

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How come it\u2019s better to use a sans serif font? Well, it has fewer strokes, which makes a text easier to read and at the same time doesn\u2019t make the letters tangle together visually as a serif might do. Researchers have also created different kinds of sans serif fonts that are intended to be better for people with dyslexia. Fonts like Dyslexie<\/strong> and OpenDyslexic<\/strong> are specifically designed to be easily readable and have an extra feature that attempts to make mirrored letters, like d and b, more distinguishable from each other. These fonts also have a heavier bottom to differentiate the different letters better.\u00a0<\/p>

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They are unfortunately behind a paywall, but there are other fonts that are still great to use. Research has shown that the following typefaces are great to use: Arial, Open Sans, Verdana, Helvetica, CMU, and Courier<\/strong>. There are, of course, a lot more fonts that can be used, but we will start with these for now. But the best one to use should be a sans serif and\/or should also be monospaced.<\/p>

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So, all in all, choosing your font matters. The right font can increase the readability of a text for a lot of people. Arial, Helvetica<\/strong>, and Courier<\/strong> are a few of the typefaces that have great readability. And why don\u2019t you try some of them out? Maybe you\u2019ll find a font that becomes your favourite. Because you\u2019ll never know until you try.<\/p>

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Sources<\/strong><\/p>

https:\/\/www.extensis.com\/blog\/whats-the-best-font-for-people-with-dyslexia<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>

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http:\/\/dyslexiahelp.umich.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/good_fonts_for_dyslexia_study.pdf<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advice to dyslexic students about the most readable fonts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[335,10],"tags":[323,322,324,321],"class_list":["post-7505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-students","category-student-health","tag-dyslexia","tag-easiest-typeface","tag-enhance-readability","tag-informative-article","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7505"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7851,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7505\/revisions\/7851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sum.malmostudenter.se\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}