Do dyslexia fonts help?
5 minute read · updated October 28, 2026
10 sources: 6 peer-reviewed research, 1 charity or professional body, 3 product documentation
Studies of fonts designed for dyslexia have not found that they improve reading speed or accuracy: a 2017 study found no benefit from OpenDyslexic and 2018 experiments with 170 children found none from Dyslexie.[1][2] Wider letter spacing has more research support, and using a font you find comfortable is still a reasonable choice.[3][4]
Several typefaces, including OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie, have been designed for readers with dyslexia.[1][2] This page looks at what controlled studies found, separates fonts from spacing, and suggests a way to test a setting on yourself.
What studies of dyslexia fonts found
| Study | Who took part | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Wery and Diliberto, 2017 (OpenDyslexic) | 12 elementary school students | No improvement in reading rate or accuracy, and none of the students preferred the font[1] |
| Kuster and colleagues, 2018 (Dyslexie) | Two experiments: 170 children with dyslexia, then 102 with and 45 without | No benefit to speed or accuracy; most children preferred Arial or Times New Roman[2] |
| Machado and colleagues, 2025 (Dyslexie) | 5 adults with dyslexia, tested online | No significant differences in accuracy or efficiency compared with Arial and Times New Roman[5] |
Most of this research is with children, and the only adult study found here had five participants, so it is weak evidence either way. Taken together, though, no study in this set found that a specialized dyslexia font made reading faster or more accurate.[1][2][5]
Spacing has stronger support than letter shapes
A 2012 study in PNAS tested 74 Italian and French children aged 8 to 14. Increasing the space between letters by 2.5 points doubled accuracy in text reading and raised reading speed by about 0.3 syllables per second.[3] Younger children matched for reading level did not show the same benefit.[3]
A 2016 study with adults, 24 university students with dyslexia and 24 without, found that large letter spacing improved reading speed for everyone and improved accuracy for the dyslexic readers.[4] A 2013 study of 48 readers with dyslexia, who each read texts in 12 fonts, found that sans serif, monospaced and upright (roman) styles gave better reading performance than serif, proportional and italic styles.[6]
What style guides recommend
The British Dyslexia Association's 2023 style guide gives practical rules for documents. It is guidance based on experience and does not cite studies for each point.[7]
- Sans serif fonts such as Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, Century Gothic, Trebuchet, Calibri or Open Sans.[7]
- Font size of 12 to 14 point, or 16 to 19 pixels on screen; some readers may want larger.[7]
- Letter spacing around 35% of the average letter width, word spacing at least 3.5 times the letter spacing, and line spacing of 1.5.[7]
- Bold for emphasis instead of underlining or italics, no long passages in capitals, and left-aligned text without justification.[7]
- Dark text on a light background that is not pure white.[7]
Changing fonts and spacing on your devices
Most of these settings are already free on your devices. Immersive Reader in Microsoft Edge changes text size and spacing, Accessibility Reader on iPhone changes font, size, and line, word and character spacing, and reading mode in Chrome adjusts font, line height and letter spacing.[8][9][10] The focus reader on this site also lets you adjust a passage.
Quick answers
Does OpenDyslexic help with reading?
A 2017 study found it did not improve reading rate or accuracy, and none of the participants preferred it.[1]
What is the best font for dyslexia?
No font has been shown to be best. The BDA style guide recommends sans serif fonts such as Arial or Verdana, and one study found sans serif, monospaced and upright styles read better than serif or italic.[7][6]
Does letter spacing help adults with dyslexia?
One study of university students found large letter spacing improved accuracy for readers with dyslexia.[4] It is a single study, so the evidence is preliminary.
Review status
Source-checked, not expert-reviewed
Drafted with AI assistance. Each factual claim was checked against the source it links to on 2026-10-28. No clinician, psychologist or dyslexia specialist has reviewed this page. See the claims register.
Sources
- [1]The effect of a specialized dyslexia font, OpenDyslexic, on reading rate and accuracy. Wery JJ, Diliberto JA. Annals of Dyslexia 67(2):114-127. doi:10.1007/s11881-016-0127-1, 2017. Accessed 2026-10-28. Peer-reviewed research
- [2]Dyslexie font does not benefit reading in children with or without dyslexia. Kuster SM, van Weerdenburg M, Gompel M, Bosman AMT. Annals of Dyslexia 68(1):25-42. doi:10.1007/s11881-017-0154-6, 2018. Accessed 2026-10-28. Peer-reviewed research
- [3]Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexia. Zorzi, Barbiero, Facoetti et al. PNAS 109(28): 11455-11459 (doi:10.1073/pnas.1205566109), 2012. Accessed 2026-10-28. Peer-reviewed research
- [4]The effects of letter spacing and coloured overlays on reading speed and accuracy in adult dyslexia. Sjoblom, Eaton and Stagg. British Journal of Educational Psychology 86(4): 630-639 (doi:10.1111/bjep.12127), 2016. Accessed 2026-10-28. Peer-reviewed research
- [5]A preliminary evaluation of Dyslexie's influence on adult dyslexic reading performance. Machado, Elmore and Hall. Behavior Analysis in Practice 18(4): 1186-1192 (doi:10.1007/s40617-025-01048-x), 2025. Accessed 2026-10-28. Peer-reviewed research
- [6]Good fonts for dyslexia (Internet Archive snapshot of the ACM abstract page, 2025-02-27). Rello and Baeza-Yates. ASSETS 2013 (doi:10.1145/2513383.2513447), 2013. Accessed 2026-10-28. Peer-reviewed research
- [7]Dyslexia style guide 2023 (Internet Archive snapshot of 2023-05-10). British Dyslexia Association, 2023. Accessed 2026-10-28. Charity or professional body
- [8]Use Immersive Reader and reading mode in Microsoft Edge. Microsoft Support. Accessed 2026-10-28. Product documentation
- [9]Read or listen to text in apps with Accessibility Reader on iPhone. Apple, 2026. Accessed 2026-10-28. Product documentation
- [10]Use reading mode in Chrome. Google Chrome Help. Accessed 2026-10-28. Product documentation
Related reading
- Do colored overlays help with dyslexia?Reviews and eye-care bodies find no good evidence that colored overlays or tinted lenses improve reading in dyslexia. Some find them more comfortable.
- Can you have dyslexia and read well?Yes. Adults can read accurately and understand well while reading slowly or finding spelling hard. What research on students shows, and what law says.
- Reading tools and accessibility features: what is built in and what the research saysWhere to find text-to-speech, reader views, dictation and text settings on Apple, Microsoft and Google devices, and what research says about special fonts.