Reading is a personal experience in every way, and format and fonts are a big part of this. From the emails you send daily to the information on this webpage, choices were made about the font type and attributes used. The accessibility of these documents or resources depends on those choices.
To help create more accessible content for your readers and organization, learn about the font preferences of four National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) accessibility consultants, each with lived experience. They answered why accessible fonts are important to their reading experience and shared the font attributes they prefer and recommend for documents, emails, presentations, handouts, and websites.
We have compiled and summarized the recommendations by document type:
A checklist of preferred fonts and font attributes for each document type is available to download.
Following these recommendations will help create accessible documents for everyone. As one of our accessibility consultants stated, everyone benefits from print resources (whether hard copy or electronic) that are prepared with consideration for those with print disabilities.
The preferences and recommendations in these resources may vary between individuals as accessibility needs are as diverse as the individuals themselves. And one expert noted that you should consider the specific needs of your target audience and choose fonts and formatting options that are most effective for them.
To learn more about fonts and how they impact our experts when they read and navigate different documents, check out the following resources.
Documents
Learn about our expert's thoughts on and preferences of the font in documents (e.g., in Word, Google Docs, etc.). The NNELS experts recommended following these guidelines when creating documents:
- Font: A sans serif font, preferably Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, or Verdana.
- Font Size: 14 points
- Font Attributes: Avoid using font embellishments like all caps, italicized, and bolded font.
- Font Colour: Black or dark grey font on a white background.
One expert with lived experience of dyslexia had alternative recommendations for font type and size. They suggest using sans serif fonts but prefer Times New Roman or Calibri Light (a sans serif font) at 11 or 12 points. Noting,
“I have become used to reading in Times New Roman, despite it not being an accessible font. This is because I have become familiar with the visual shape of the words in that font (most academic text are in that font) and can recognize them as complete units.”
Visual adjustments are very important for digital documents or when developing e-resources, discussed in more detail in the Providing Visual Adjustment webpage.
Emails
Learn about our expert's thoughts and font preferences when people write emails. In summary, when creating emails, use the following:
- Font: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Tahoma, or another sans serif font (depending on your email client.
- Font Size: At least 12 points
- Font Attributes: Regular with no embellishments (like bolded or italic text).
- Font Colour: Black or dark grey text on white background.
Presentations
When creating presentations, you must consider whether the font and text are accessible to your audience. We suggest following the guidelines recommended by our experts. In summary, when creating presentations, use the following:
- Font: Any sans serif font, like Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, or Verdana.
- Font Size: Large font size (at least 20 points, with one expert saying it could go down to 14 points).
- Font Attributes: Regular with no embellishments (like bolded or italic text).
- Font Colour: Black text on a white background.
The experts disagreed on whether to recommend using white text on a black or dark background. One person noted that this was easier to read, and another stated that this colour formatting was difficult for them. We suggest using a dark font on a light background, which all experts recommended unless you know your audience's preference.
Handouts
When creating handouts, consider our expert's thoughts and preferences on the fonts you may use. In summary, when creating handouts:
- Font: Any sans serif font, like Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, or Verdana.
- Font Size: 12 points or larger.
- Font Attributes: Regular with no embellishments (like bolded or italic text).
- Font Colour: Black text on a white background. Use blue underlined font for links.
Websites
Learn our expert's thoughts on the fonts and font attributes to use in websites! The experts suggest you use the following:
- Font: Any sans serif font, like Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, OpenDyslexic, or Verdana.
- Font Size: 12-14 point
- Font Attributes: Regular with no embellishments (like bolded or italic text).
- Font Colour: Black text on a white background.
A note about OpenDyslexic font, some find this font type accessible, and others do not. It would be ideal to provide it as a visual adjustment option on your website but do not make it the only font available.