As someone working on a free open-source project that is almost as text-intensive as it can get, I was really happy to see a dyslexia font/typeface that was truly free, when Marco Arment announced it would be included in Instapaper.
The gist of the research is to create typefaces whose characters, even flipped and rotated, cannot be confused at all.
I've seen others like http://redd.it/j277w that, as interesting as the look, weren't free, and as a result come with a lot of problems.
There are two approaches:
1. Client-side typeface support.
2. Service-side typeface support.
People with dyslexia can easily purchase a dyslexia typeface and embed it in their OS and force their browsers to display websites with the new typeface, while service-providers can't always just fork over five bucks and link to the .ttf or .otf file without getting into trouble.
Paid typefaces are great for clients, but aren't always for service-providers.
I have always wondered why Apple have never provided a dyslexia typeface with iOS and OS X. Considering their efforts in accessibility, maybe they don't believe in the efficacy of dyslexia-friendly typefaces.
While there is still a discussion of quality[1] and efficacy to be had, the real news here is that someone made the effort of providing people with a truly free dyslexia typeface, which has been sorely missed to this day.
[1]: I think what irks me is the large font weight even for the regular font. The bold font is barely discernable from the regular.
If you want an example of it in action, you can go to a deployed example of my app at http://pygm.us/kzXSwSRV with the log-in admin//password. I haven't gotten around to letting people change their settings, but you can use the button in the sidebar to see it in effect. If you apply the CSS in one of the threads, you may see why I find the font weight to be a bit on the heavy side. But to each their own and all.
Of course, now that Instapaper supports the typeface, you should check it out in it as well, if you have an iOS device.
The gist of the research is to create typefaces whose characters, even flipped and rotated, cannot be confused at all.
I've seen others like http://redd.it/j277w that, as interesting as the look, weren't free, and as a result come with a lot of problems.
There are two approaches:
1. Client-side typeface support.
2. Service-side typeface support.
People with dyslexia can easily purchase a dyslexia typeface and embed it in their OS and force their browsers to display websites with the new typeface, while service-providers can't always just fork over five bucks and link to the .ttf or .otf file without getting into trouble.
Paid typefaces are great for clients, but aren't always for service-providers.
I have always wondered why Apple have never provided a dyslexia typeface with iOS and OS X. Considering their efforts in accessibility, maybe they don't believe in the efficacy of dyslexia-friendly typefaces.
While there is still a discussion of quality[1] and efficacy to be had, the real news here is that someone made the effort of providing people with a truly free dyslexia typeface, which has been sorely missed to this day.
[1]: I think what irks me is the large font weight even for the regular font. The bold font is barely discernable from the regular.