Just a short one for today, but I wanted to draw attention to the existence of the OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie fonts/typefaces. They are designed to help folks with dyslexia read more easily, with a growing body of research explaining how and why they work. But since I'm not qualified to interpret those findings or their professional application in graphical or website design, I'll simply speak to my personal experience using them over the last several months and point out a few helpful resources.
Important note/caveat: I am not (to my knowledge) dyslexic, although I sometimes wonder if I have a less-intense, acquired form because of my traumatic brain injury, left-eye blindness, and a fairly extreme astigmatism. All I can say for certain is that the use of these two fonts has made it vastly easier for me to read and reduced the frequency of "mental misfires" where I unintentionally read letters out of order or skip words and have to go back and re-read for comprehension. Considering the amount of recreational reading and writing I do, these fonts have literally made my life easier.
I currently prefer OpenDyslexic, both because it's fully free and does a better job of "catching" my eye with the shape and spacing of its letters, although YMMV. OpenDyslexic also comes pre-installed on the Kindle reading app, which I use all the time, so I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to try it out. Still, there's no reason not to experiment with both, and especially if you're comfortable installing fonts on your computer and/or have a mobile device that lets you manage those settings more directly.
Here are potentially helpful download links, resources, and how-to guides:
- OpenDyslexic Homepage: https://opendyslexic.org
- Chrome Extension:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/opendyslexic-for-chrome/cdnapgfjopgaggbmfgbiinmmbdcglnam - Dyslexie Homepage: https://www.dyslexiefont.com
- Chrome Extension:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dyslexie-font-dyslexia-ac/jphdkcjkapjfojcjajeeomimmihnghjp - How to install fonts:
- Windows 10:
https://www.howtogeek.com/787939/how-to-install-fonts-on-windows-10/ - macOS:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201749 - How to change your system font in Windows 10:
https://www.howtogeek.com/716407/how-to-change-the-default-system-font-on-windows-10/ (Sadly, I'm unsure how to do this one on Mac) - For the more adventurous, this custom font extension for Chrome will give you even more granular control over font selection, although it can require a lot of custom tweaking to avoid rendering issues:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/force-custom-fonts/hckjchjpkmbihoocajjpjajkggbccgee
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