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Wikipedia says that there is no research showing that the commercial font called Dyslexia is useful for people with dyslexia (in improving readability). I also

by AnonC 6y ago

Wikipedia says that there is no research showing that the commercial font called Dyslexia is useful for people with dyslexia (in improving readability). I also see free and open source clones like OpenDyslexic. [1] I presume this wouldn’t help much either. What else can web developers and/or content writers do to make content better readable or more easier to comprehend (even if it’s by easy guessing)? [1]: https://www.opendyslexic.org/ https://www.opendyslexic.org/

gnicholas 6y ago
You're right that the research on these fonts is mixed. After receiving many feature request emails from users, I offered OpenDyslexic in my browser plugin that helps people read more easily (and which has been picked up as an assistive technology for people with dyslexia). I think the reason these fonts are popular with some people with dyslexia is that they are heavier (thicker lines) and have more space between characters. For some people, including people with visual impairments, these features make reading easier. This is especially the case if the alternative is some super-thin font that is dark grey, against a light grey background. I've seen discussions in the WCAG (web accessibility) community and other community around how to make reading easier for neurodiverse populations. Unfortunately, most of what I've seen has been along the lines of "don't use big words" and "use short/simple sentences". While this is all well and good for some uses cases, it is not practical advice if your app is an ebook reader or your website talks about complex financial instruments. Fortunately, there are some layout-related things that you can do to make text more inclusively designed, and you can check out the Center for Applied Special Technologies' website for an interactive demo. [1] Full disclosure, one of the technologies they feature was created by my startup, BeeLine Reader. Let me know if you want to try out our JS on your site — contact info is in my profile. PS: the commercial font you reference is "Dyslexie", not "Dyslexia". A common typo, I'm sure! 1: http://demo.cast.org/cisl-demo/ http://demo.cast.org/cisl-demo/

by AnonC 6y ago

gnicholas 6y ago

You're right that the research on these fonts is mixed. After receiving many feature request emails from users, I offered OpenDyslexic in my browser plugin that helps people read more easily (and which has been picked up as an assistive technology for people with dyslexia). I think the reason these fonts are popular with some people with dyslexia is that they are heavier (thicker lines) and have more space between characters. For some people, including people with visual impairments, these features make reading easier. This is especially the case if the alternative is some super-thin font that is dark grey, against a light grey background. I've seen discussions in the WCAG (web accessibility) community and other community around how to make reading easier for neurodiverse populations. Unfortunately, most of what I've seen has been along the lines of "don't use big words" and "use short/simple sentences". While this is all well and good for some uses cases, it is not practical advice if your app is an ebook reader or your website talks about complex financial instruments. Fortunately, there are some layout-related things that you can do to make text more inclusively designed, and you can check out the Center for Applied Special Technologies' website for an interactive demo. [1] Full disclosure, one of the technologies they feature was created by my startup, BeeLine Reader. Let me know if you want to try out our JS on your site — contact info is in my profile. PS: the commercial font you reference is "Dyslexie", not "Dyslexia". A common typo, I'm sure! 1: http://demo.cast.org/cisl-demo/ http://demo.cast.org/cisl-demo/