How to choose an accessible font

It is important to use a large enough font on all websites and documents so everyone can read it. This affects people with vision impairments and dyslexia in particular.

Inaccessible fonts can be much more difficult to read, as it can be hard to distinguish between different letters and characters. It can slow the reader down or cause frustration, meaning they may stop reading.

Standard fonts like Verdana, Calibri, Arial and Tahoma are designed to be more accessible. Avoid using any cursive or decorative fonts. You should also use as few fonts as possible.

Once you have an accessible font, you should keep styles to a minimum. Italics, paragraphs of bold text or words in all capital letters can be very difficult to read and so should be avoided. Underlining should only be used for links.

Example

This example uses the disability simulator Funkify to show how someone with blurred vision may see text. The first font is an inaccessible font (Fantasy), while the second font is an accessible font (Helvetica). You are able to read the second font much more clearly because it has been designed with accessibility in mind.