Montessori Conference 2026 Q1: Dyslexia Fonts?
- hello783346
- May 6
- 1 min read
Question 1:
"What do you think about dyslexia fonts?"
Answer:
I’ve seen there are a couple of dyslexia fonts, but OpenDyslexia seems to be the main one. Overall, I think taking note of the importance of font types and sizes and adjusting them according to dyslexics’ needs is an overlooked and important idea. Larger, clearer fonts are generally easier to read – for everyone.
OpenDyslexia also has thicker lines at the bottom of letters, helping to create a “bottom” and to prevent flipping letters. While this is helpful, the most important part for me is how the letters are formed.
Font letters should resemble handwritten letters. The letter “a” is an important example here: in most fonts, it looks more like an upside down “e”! In Arial and Calibri it looks like this. The letters "g", "q", "t", "u", and "y" typically also look different than their handwritten counterparts.
Since dyslexics get confused between letters, the way each letter looks should remain as constant as possible. So, while increasing font size is important, also choose a font type that best matches the handwriting you teach in your school.
So specific dyslexia-friendly fonts like OpenDyslexia could be helpful. But any font that resembles handwriting, like Comic Sans or Century Gothic, will make a big difference already.
This relates to my views on cursive writing for dyslexics and the multisensorial learning of letters. Read about it here
