Using a Dyslexia-Friendly Font for Improved Readability
For individuals with dyslexia, navigating websites can be a challenging task, particularly when it comes to reading text content. Experts estimate that around 15% of the world’s population has dyslexia. This cognitive disability makes it difficult to distinguish between letters and characters, especially if they look and sound similar. It poses a significant barrier to people who try to participate in activities that involve reading, such as browsing the internet or engaging in ecommerce.
While dyslexia is a genetic condition that affects the area of the brain that controls reading and sounds, you can create a more accessible and user-friendly experience for individuals with dyslexia. One method you can use is incorporating a dyslexia-friendly font into your website.
What are dyslexia-friendly fonts?
Dyslexia-friendly fonts are typefaces designed to make reading easier for people with dyslexia. These fonts typically have features such as increased spacing between letters, a more defined difference between letters that are easily confused, and a heavier weight to the letters.
By reducing the symmetry between letters and numbers, a dyslexia-friendly font reduces the chances of confusing one character for another. For example, a dyslexia-friendly font could add a tail to help users distinguish between a lowercase “B” and a lowercase “D”. It could also add a slash to help distinguish between a zero and an uppercase O. These slight differences help improve readability and have an outsized effect on dyslexic readers.
Common dyslexia-friendly fonts
Among the most well-known dyslexia-friendly fonts are OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie. This font was designed specifically for people with dyslexia, with features that make it easier for them to read. Tests show that OpenDyslexic can improve reading speed and accuracy for individuals with dyslexia. It is available at zero cost and is easily incorporated into different web platforms.
On the other hand, Dyslexie reduces the visual confusion that many individuals with dyslexia experience when reading. Its creators claim that it also improves reading speed and accuracy. However, unlike OpenDyslexic, Dyslexie is a paid font. Still, you can easily incorporate it into websites as well.
Most dyslexia-friendly fonts are compatible with character sets based on the Roman alphabet, and some even have diacritic characters. You may also find dyslexia-friendly fonts for character sets based on Cyrillic and other writing systems.
Making your website more accessible for people with dyslexia
People with dyslexia can benefit from dyslexia-friendly fonts on your website. If it runs on WordPress, you may use an appropriate plugin such as Easy Google Fonts or WP Google Fonts. These plugins allow website owners to add custom fonts to their websites easily. Once the plugin is installed and activated, website owners can search for OpenDyslexic in the plugin’s font library and select it as the font for their website’s content. You may use a similar procedure for other web platforms.
It is important to note that while dyslexia-friendly fonts can improve content readability for individuals with dyslexia, they are not a cure for the disorder. Dyslexia is a complex learning disorder that affects people differently, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Dyslexia-friendly fonts can be a helpful tool, but you should take other steps to make your website even more accessible for individuals with dyslexia.
looking forward to the opinion of 1 person! raise staff to share their feedback on every other’s performance (make sure it doesn’t go personal!) and see if every of them will do his job on a high level.
So you can create amazing customer satisfaction surveys with the Survey Maker plugin and easily get feedback from people with dyslexia to understand if dyslexia fonts are helpful enough.
For example, you can use clear, simple language, avoid jargon or technical terms, and break up content into smaller sections with headings and subheadings. These steps don’t just improve readability; they also make it easier for screen readers to interpret your content.
You may also deploy a screen widget that lets users toggle between your default font and a dyslexia-friendly font. This assistive technology also allows users to choose a high-contrast palette, increase text size, or read the text aloud.
Conclusion
Dyslexia-friendly fonts can be a helpful tool for website owners to make their WordPress websites more accessible and user-friendly for individuals with dyslexia. By incorporating dyslexia-friendly fonts into your website, you can improve the readability of your content. However, you should remember that dyslexia-friendly fonts alone are not enough to cure dyslexia. Instead, they should be part of a holistic strategy that creates an accessible and inclusive experience for all users.
