
11 Sep Fend off Font Faux Pax!
I subscribe to the Vision Australia newsletter and have just read a fascinating article that I wanted to pass on.
I am constantly on the lookout for ways to support adult learners. One way we can do this is to ensure that the documents we ask our learners to read are accessible. By providing accessible learning materials, we avoid imposing unnecessary demands on our learners’ digital and reading skills.
When it comes to accessible writing, many of us know about the importance of using:
- a font colour that contrasts with the background, so words stand out on the page ‒ for example, black font on a white background, rather than light grey font on a white background
- a font style that features easy-to-distinguish characters ‒ for example, a sans-serif font, rather than a flamboyant serif-font
- a font size that makes letters and words easy to distinguish – for example, size 12-14 font size for body text, depending on the type of text and how it will be read.
But thanks to this article, I now know to look for fonts with a high x-height, large aperture, and other features that enable readers to distinguish between similar letters.
Ready to read?
Read about 3 typography mistakes that hurt accessibility (and how to fix them).
If you like the article…
You might want to subscribe to Vision Australia’s email newsletter or check out their Digital Access Blog (where this article came from). I pick up something useful every time, and trust that you will, too.
And I do not have a commercial arrangement with Vision Australia. I just thought this was useful information that serves a worthwhile cause!