Dyslexia Friendly Fonts?

[Zloth]

I just noticed this news item for Disco Elysium:

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut - New Update: Dyslexia-Friendly Fonts - Steam News

Introducing more accessible fonts to Disco Elysium - The Final Cut to improve player experiences.

store.steampowered.com

I never knew a simple font fix could help people with dyslexia! The font is plenty legible for everyone, too. I wonder if more games (and other programs) will start using fonts like that?

(To be clear, it's a font OPTION in the game, they didn't change everybody's font)

 

[Colif]

Dyslexia friendly style guide - British Dyslexia Association

This Style Guide provides principles that can help ensure that written material considers the difficulties experienced by some dyslexic people and allows…

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk

it appears its also about spacing as well.

 

[Slasken]

This is pretty interesting. It looks a little bit like the one I switched to now, Trebuchet MS.

I didn't know this was a thing either, but if this is the case, why aren't books, and especially books in school, in this font?

 

[WoodenSaucer]

It's really interesting. I'd like to hear from someone with dyslexia how well this helps. I will say this, though. Even though it is very readable, I find myself reading more slowly with that font for some reason.

 

[Colif]

They still have books in schools? Give it a few years and they will all be digital. I did a library course, I can see the future.

The libraries replace the books every 10 years (rephrased: Books are replaced once they reach 10 years of age) so perhaps if the number of people with the problem was high enough in schools, they would require the publishers to produce books using that style guide. Libraries like style guides. Just need enough schools demanding it before Publishers will move.

Would still take 10 or so years before all books in the collection adhere to style as no school rich enough to replace them all in one year. Unless its a digital database, then well... easy. Although digital depends on if the books are saved in PDF form, as you can't change them then... mostly.

note: special collections may not be required to change, depends on collection itself. Some collections always have old books.

 

[Brian Boru]

why aren't books, and especially books in school, in this font?

Depends on the format of the book. Ebooks could change fairly easily, print not until another printing.

It looks a little bit like the one I switched to now, Trebuchet MS

That's a screen font, and would be less suitable for print. Print is typically at minimum 600 DPI, whereas Ebooks can be as low as 72, tho most modern ones are 300—a lot depends on the dominant screen resolution of used devices.

Paper is typically easier to read from for longer periods—less tiring on the eyes and less inclined to cause headaches in some. For ebooks, a lot depends on device resolution, device physical screen size, and if the screen is backlit or not, plus if electronic ink is used.

If an ebook is in PDF format also makes a difference—PDF is made for printing out, not for screen reading. Screen files should be EPUB when at all possible, altho MOBI can work on Amazon's Kindle reading devices.

A good reading device should let you set your own style sheet so you can change the fonts—face, size and weight.

 

[Colif]

I didn't know I needed glasses until I tried to read a book a few years ago and it was all blurry. If you only read off monitors it can be a surprise. Now, 7 years later I wouldn't even try to read a book without glasses. But then I can't read my monitor without them either now.

So thats one advantage to digital formats. I can't read the manual for my motherboard but as its also online as a PDF I can make the text size large enough to read the finer details.

font weights? Font weight is the “value” placed on your font that will determine how bold or light your text will appear.

I didn't know that one.

Upper & lower cases are named as such as the bigger type would be stored in the upper case and the smaller type in the lower case. It described where they were stored at the printers. Dad was a printer, could read upside down and backwards.

 

[Slasken]

They still have books in schools? Give it a few years and they will all be digital.

They do here in Norway. One of my kids uses an iPad, and another uses a laptop, but still they have books for every class. Personally, I think it all should be digital, and it really annoys me when they get assignments printed on paper, when it would have been better to get it digitally.

 

[Brian Boru]

Dad … could read upside down

Also an Aussie, huh? 🙃

I didn't know that one

My bad, thought I'd added an explanation for those.

Face—the visual design, so Arial, Times New Roman, etc.
Weight—in practice, means bold or italic.
Size—means the obvious, and is changeable in electronic media like EPUB ebooks, websites etc.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I didn't know I needed glasses until I tried to read a book a few years ago and it was all blurry. If you only read off monitors it can be a surprise. Now, 7 years later I wouldn't even try to read a book without glasses. But then I can't read my monitor without them either now.

I wear progressive lenses. I've always been near sighted, but the past few years, I've also needed reading glasses. I can't read anything without them anymore. But the crazy thing is, we got an Oculus Quest 2 a couple of years ago, and I can read all the text fine on there without glasses. It's really bizarre when you're used to having to wear glasses for everything.

They do here in Norway. One of my kids uses an iPad, and another uses a laptop, but still they have books for every class. Personally, I think it all should be digital, and it really annoys me when they get assignments printed on paper, when it would have been better to get it digitally.

It's exactly the same way where I'm at in the US. Our kids use Chromebooks in our school system. And I'm just as annoyed as you when they still use printed papers instead of just doing it on the Chromebook.