Fonts are one of the easiest accessibility wins an employer can make. Changing the typeface, size and layout of your documents costs nothing, and it can make a real difference to how quickly and comfortably dyslexic colleagues read them. This guide covers which fonts work well for dyslexic readers, and the other formatting choices that matter just as much.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a specific learning difference that mainly affects how people process written language, including reading, spelling and writing. The British Dyslexia Association describes itself as the voice of the 10% of the population who are dyslexic, so in most teams you will have dyslexic colleagues whether or not they have told you.
Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence. Many dyslexic people are strong big-picture thinkers, problem solvers and communicators. The barrier is usually the format information arrives in, and that is something employers can change. Our page on dyslexia in the workplace covers the wider picture.
Why fonts matter
Some typefaces have letters that look very similar, tight spacing or decorative strokes. For many dyslexic readers, that means slower reading, more re-reading and more fatigue by the end of the day. Clearer fonts and layouts reduce that effort for everyone, not just dyslexic staff.
Which fonts work best?
The British Dyslexia Association’s dyslexia friendly style guide recommends sans serif fonts, which don’t have the small strokes at the ends of letters. It names Arial and Comic Sans, and suggests Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, Trebuchet, Calibri and Open Sans as alternatives.
Most of these are already installed on work computers, so switching your default template is usually a five-minute job.
What about specialist dyslexia fonts?
There are fonts designed specifically for dyslexic readers, such as OpenDyslexic. Some people find them helpful and others don’t. Preferences vary a lot, so the best approach is to use a clear sans serif font as standard and let individuals change fonts on their own devices if they want to.
Formatting beyond the font
The typeface is only part of it. The BDA guide also recommends the following.
Size
Use 12 to 14 point text, or roughly 16 to 19 pixels on screen. Some readers will want it larger, so make sure digital documents can be zoomed.
Spacing
Use line spacing of around 1.5. Slightly wider letter and word spacing also helps text feel less crowded.
Emphasis
Avoid italics and underlining, which can make words run together. Use bold for emphasis instead, and avoid writing continuous text in capital letters.
Colour and background
Use dark text on a plain, single-colour background. Cream or a soft pastel is often easier on the eyes than bright white. Avoid patterned backgrounds and avoid relying on green and red, which are hard for people with colour vision differences to tell apart.
Layout
Break text into short paragraphs with clear headings. Leave plenty of white space and keep lines to a comfortable length.
Audio options
Text-to-speech software lets people listen to documents while following the text. It is built into most operating systems and is a common, low-cost adjustment. Our list of reasonable adjustment examples includes more ideas like this.
Putting it into practice
Start with the documents people use most: policies, onboarding packs, email signatures, slide templates and job adverts. Update the default templates so new documents are accessible from the start. Job adverts are a good place to begin, and our guide to writing accessible job descriptions covers the wording as well as the formatting.
For a ready-made reference your team can follow, download our dyslexia styles guide.
How Enna can help
Accessible formatting is a quick win, but the bigger gains come from changing how your organisation communicates. Our neuroinclusive communication workshop helps teams write, present and run meetings in ways that work for dyslexic and other neurodivergent colleagues. To see where your documents, systems and processes stand today, try our neuroinclusion maturity assessment or ask about a full neuroinclusion audit. Want to talk it through first? Book a call with our team.
