Accessible Typography Solutions
Dyslexia-Friendly Font
Designed for clarity. Built for accessibility. Made for millions worldwide.
Why Dyslexia-Friendly
Fonts Matter
Making reading accessible, comfortable, and empowering for everyone
Dyslexia is a neurological difference affecting how the brain processes written language. People with dyslexia often experience letter reversals, word transpositions, and visual stress when reading standard typography.
Dyslexia-friendly fonts counteract these challenges with unique letter shapes, expanded spacing, and weighted baselines—each design decision carefully engineered to reduce visual confusion and cognitive load.
The result: faster reading speed, better comprehension, and renewed confidence for millions worldwide. Accessible typography isn't a luxury—it's essential design.
Impact by the Numbers
Understanding the reach and importance of accessible typography
10-20%
of the global population has dyslexia
1 in 5
students struggle with reading due to dyslexia
80%
improved reading speed with accessible fonts
Key Design Features
What makes dyslexia-friendly fonts different
-Increased Letter Spacing
Wider spacing between letters reduces visual crowding and improves word recognition clarity.
Unique Letter Forms
Distinctive character designs prevent confusion between similar glyphs like b, d, p, and q.
Weighted Baselines
Heavier bottom strokes anchor letters and eliminate rotation perception issues.
Enhanced x-height
Taller lowercase proportions improve scanability and reduce eye strain.
Varied Widths
Strategic width variations help distinguish characters and enable faster scanning.
Clear Strokes
Defined ascenders and descenders provide visual anchors for letter differentiation.
Visual Comparison
Experience the difference side-by-side
Standard Font
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Reading should be effortless and enjoyable for everyone, but traditional fonts can make this difficult for people with dyslexia.
Dyslexia-Friendly Font
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Reading should be effortless and enjoyable for everyone, but traditional fonts can make this difficult for people with dyslexia.
Notice the Transformation
Increased spacing, distinctive letter shapes, and weighted baselines—each element carefully designed to reduce visual stress and accelerate reading flow.
Download the Font
Powered by OpenDyslexic
This page features OpenDyslexic, a free, open-source font specifically designed to help people with dyslexia read faster and more accurately. OpenDyslexic's innovative design principles—including increased letter spacing, distinctive character forms, and weighted baselines—make it one of the most effective dyslexia-friendly fonts available.
Created by Abelardo Gonzalez and maintained by the OpenDyslexic community since 2011
📦What's Included
- ✓Complete OpenDyslexic family (Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold-Italic)
- ✓Multiple formats (.woff2, .woff, .ttf, .otf) for broad compatibility
- ✓Production-ready CSS implementations and examples
- ✓React/Next.js integration guides and starter code
- ✓Comprehensive documentation & accessibility guidelines
- ✓Web font hosting options and CDN integration
Open Source License
Licensed under CC-BY 3.0. Free for personal and commercial use. Attribution appreciated but not required.
By downloading, you agree to OpenDyslexic's terms and the CC-BY 3.0 license
How to Implement
Add dyslexia-friendly typography to your website
CSS Method
@font-face {
font-family: 'OpenDyslexic';
src: url('/fonts/OpenDyslexic.woff2')
format('woff2');
}
body.dyslexia-mode {
font-family: 'OpenDyslexic', sans-serif;
letter-spacing: 0.05em;
word-spacing: 0.16em;
}React/Next.js
import localFont from 'next/font/local';
const dyslexic = localFont({
src: './fonts/OpenDyslexic.woff2',
variable: '--font-dyslexic',
});
// Apply to components
<div className={dyslexic.variable}>
Content here
</div>Additional Resources
dyslexiaFriendly.resources.description
Credits & Attribution
The people and research behind OpenDyslexic
About OpenDyslexic
OpenDyslexic is a free, open-source font family specifically engineered to help people with dyslexia read text with greater ease and speed. Since its inception in 2011, it has become one of the most widely-used dyslexia-friendly fonts globally, with millions of users ranging from students and educators to corporations and accessibility professionals.
Font Variants
OpenDyslexic Regular
The primary typeface with all dyslexia-friendly design features
OpenDyslexic Bold
Weighted variant for headings and emphasis
OpenDyslexic Italic
Italic style for supplementary and quoted text
OpenDyslexic Mono
Monospace variant for code and technical content
Creator & Community
Built and maintained by talented creators and volunteers
Abelardo Gonzalez
Creator & Lead Developer
Abelardo Gonzalez founded OpenDyslexic in 2011 with the vision of creating accessible typography for the dyslexic community. His innovative approach to font design—combining unique letterforms, strategic spacing, and weighted baselines—has revolutionized dyslexic font design and set the standard for accessible typography worldwide.
Community Contributors
OpenDyslexic thrives through contributions from developers, designers, translators, and accessibility advocates. Notable contributors include:
License & Usage Rights
OpenDyslexic is distributed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL) v1.1, which grants you the freedom to use, modify, and distribute the font under specific terms.
Free for Personal Use
Use OpenDyslexic in personal documents, websites, and applications at no cost
Free for Commercial Use
Deploy in commercial products, services, and websites without licensing fees
Modify & Distribute
Create derivative works and custom variants under OFL v1.1 conditions
Attribution
Include original copyright notice and license when distributing modified versions
For full license details, visit the SIL OFL v1.1 official documentation.
Research & Inspiration
Scientific studies and research supporting dyslexia-friendly design
Letter Spacing Research
Studies show that increased letter spacing (0.05em or more) significantly improves reading speed and comprehension for individuals with dyslexia.
Visual Stress Relief
Distinctive letter forms and weighted baselines reduce visual crowding perception, a key challenge for dyslexic readers.
Weisenmiller & Mulligan Study
Research demonstrates that dyslexia-friendly font features improve reading speed by 8-24% while reducing cognitive load.
WCAG Accessibility
Meets WCAG 2.1 Level AAA accessibility standards for readable typography and visual clarity.
Support OpenDyslexic
OpenDyslexic is free and always will be. If this font has helped you or your organization, consider supporting the project to help us reach more people.
Every contribution—whether code, design, translation, or feedback—helps us create a more accessible world for the dyslexic community.
Have an accessibility tool to share?
We're always looking to collaborate with developers who are passionate about accessibility. If you've built a tool that helps make the web more inclusive,
let's connect and explore how we can work together .