OpenDyslexic: A Typeface for Dyslexia
opendyslexic.org
opendyslexic.org
This is all super anecdotal, but I've lost countless hours debugging stuff, only to find that ive called fidnAllDocs instead of findAllDocs. Even when looking for a typo in that specific variable, I'll miss it multiple times.
A while back I switched to open dyslexic in my terminal and editor. This issue has gone from every couple weeks to practically never.
Some people hate it, but it's definitely worth a shot
I do in fact see an OpenDyslexicMono font after downloading it. I can't vouch for how good the font is though, since I'm not dyslexic.
I feel your pain on this. I'm curious to see if other people find it helps. My instinct is that its much harder to read compared to something like zilvertype. But then I _had_ dysgraphia, rather than full bore dyslexia.
The bottom half of the letters are a bit fatter which makes it easier in my head to read. I have no idea what's the science behind this. It's makes it easier for me to read a bit longer without getting sick of reading.
Not sure if it's faster than other fonts but it reads more relaxed.
However on this www page you don't see the font go to: https://opendyslexic.org/
Wonder if there's something I'm doing wrong.
https://opendyslexic.org/ without the "www" works better.
Granted that I'm not dyslexic: this version seems way more difficult to read, other than looking bad :(
I'm very minimal reading dyslexic (it's a bit complex).
Anyway while it doesn't fell like it would allow me to read faster, I believe it does help me to read more correct. Through I have to test it out more. I thing I will try it the next time I write a paper or similar. Also it's very different to many other font's so maybe it's just about getting used to it?
I'll have to try this out.
I think it's great to read, but agree that it isn't the best-looking font. Not as bad as comic sans though.
Probably this font forces us to read letter by letter, and this is what makes it easier for dyslexic people to read the text (they don't get confused too much of the next / previous characters), and so difficult for people who aren't used to read letter by letter.
Interesting :)
The it's dubious argument seems compelling but I still tend towards the it helps belief probably just because I have spent some time thinking the first argument was true and the second argument has not yet managed to win through that habit.
From the very top of the page:
> If you like the way you are able to read this page, and others, then this typeface is for you!
Even if that's a "yes" for only 2% of dyslexics, then isn't that good enough? Why can't a reader decide for themselves whether they find that page easier to read than most?
There are WAY easier ways to do scams earning much more with much less effort.
Plus even if it does not reliably help dyslexic people, if it helps or is liked by the people who donate it's not a scam at all, even if the since behind it turns out to be incorrect.
It’s reading. You know if it helps you or not because suddenly the words stop swimming around.
Because they think it helps other people?
My first impresion of this is that it might be a good idea to add a button to my blog changing the fonts with this one for accessibility.
Aside from the obvious cost to me (and limited benefit to others), implementing this might make me more resistant to doing something else that actually helps.
If a drug cures 2% cases of cancer patients, with absolutely no downside, it wouldn't be a cure for cancer. It would be incredible, but still it cannot be claimed to be a cure for cancer.
The name and branding all suggest the font to counter dyslexia generally. That would be ridiculously misguiding if it only helps tiny fraction of dyslexia. Is it a helpful invention? But it's far from what the branding promises.
Of course readers can decide for themselves whether it works for them or not; but a misleading branding is still misleading.
I don’t see the misleading part tbh.
I mean the website itself is written in its own font, it’s gonna be pretty clear to a dyslexic if it’s gonna help or not.
Over the years I've seen my share of these "fonts for dyslectic people". I often looked at them with high hopes, only to feel disappointed by how not a single one had any significant effect on me. Sure, most of them looked clean and tidy (but so do many other fonts), and there sure are other fonts that make things a hell of a lot worse (although maybe not as much is some might think).
Time and again, I find the claims associated with these fonts just falling short (if not totally bogus). Actually, from my personal experience I find this the whole concept, that a font will significantly impact or solve this problem, rather preposterous and maybe even insulting. Even to a level that it sounds mostly like irritating marketing snake oil, at least to me. I'm not saying that these fonts have not been made with only the best of intentions. Maybe they all are. But their presentation certainly ruins that for me.
From my own experiences, I simply can't agree with what all of these fonts claim to do (at least not more than what many other, more commonly used, fonts already do). But the assumption that this problem can be fixed with a font, annoys me most of all.
Even if it does help some people, it may also do a huge disservice to everyone for which it does nothing, while claiming or implying how it should improve their situation too.
After many years of receiving my own share of: "why don't you just read properly", please consider me edgy and easily triggered on the subject.
#end-of-rant
OpenDyslexia has been a godsend for our family. I’m sorry it doesn’t work for you. I also know someone who found that coloured lenses helped her, but it made no difference to us.
Like most things in life, YMMV.
I do not really have any personal issue with my condition. Everyone who needs to know does, and it's never a show-stopper for anything essential in my life.
I do sincerely thank you for your sympathy/empathy, but it's not something I actually need. I've learned to live with and around dyslexia a long time ago, rather similar to how somebody with a physical handicap since birth no doubt would.
I honestly would not be surprised if it's a complex condition indeed. I would be even less surprised if different conditions ended up being classified under the same moniker, just because they share superficial symptoms (for this is how our healthcare systems function, especially for most mind related topics). I'm not having any issue with that either.
However, what pisses me off, is when people claim to have a solution that just isn't. I don't think it's just me. I know (quite) a few more people with dyslexia, but I don't recall any of them ever having any significant benefit from any of these "special" fonts (beyond comparing them to fonts that probably would confuse most "ordinary" people too).
I would honestly like to hear from other people with dyslexia, if there is even a single one among them that had a real significant benefit from any of these fonts. Because so far, I have never met one.
I again would like to stress that these efforts may nonetheless be pursued with nothing but good intentions. Still, as the saying goes ... the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Only to illustrate the principle, but certainly not to imply that the effects are even remote comparable: the colonial missionaries who came to "spread religion and culture" to the "savages in the new worlds", did often have sincere intentions (yet extremely misguided and wrong on so many levels, as most sane people today will instantly agree with). Even though the example is extreme, I hope it helps to understand why I have an issue with "doing good" for the wrong reasons in general. It has a remarkable habit of ending up more harmful than good.
One of my family members has dyslexia and this font changed their life.
But it helps me to read more correct.
I plan to use it for proof reading for the next larger text I will soon have to write.
As I haven't used it much it's just a guess, but I estimate it will majorly help me with proof reading texts I had written.
We experimented with heaps of different fonts, colours, sizes, and OpenDyslexic is the one thing that worked the dyslexic in our family. It has significantly changed our lives for the better.
You’re doing people a huge disservice by dismissing it out of hand or sprouting some bullshit about children’s preferences. It costs literally nothing to try out - you just have to visit the web page ffs - and it either works or it doesn’t, but if it works it can be life changing.
> In two experiments, the claim was tested that the font “Dyslexie”, specifically designed for people with dyslexia, eases reading performance of children with (and without) dyslexia. Three questions were investigated. (1) Does the Dyslexie font lead to faster and/or more accurate reading? (2) Do children have a preference for the Dyslexie font? And, (3) is font preference related to reading performance? In Experiment 1, children with dyslexia (n = 170) did not read text written in Dyslexie font faster or more accurately than in Arial font. The majority preferred reading in Arial and preference was not related to reading performance. In Experiment 2, children with (n = 102) and without dyslexia (n = 45) read word lists in three different font types (Dyslexie, Arial, Times New Roman). Words written in Dyslexie font were not read faster or more accurately. Moreover, participants showed a preference for the fonts Arial and Times New Roman rather than Dyslexie, and again, preference was not related to reading performance. These experiments clearly justify the conclusion that the Dyslexie font neither benefits nor impedes the reading process of children with and without dyslexia.
It is not some bullshit about children's preferences, it's a pretty reasonable way to evaluate a font in a more objective setting.
The study used word lists vs. prose. I'm no expert, but that limits a reader's abilities for pattern recognition. Also, the age and reading experience of the reader may have bearing on the potential benefits. This just looked at children (otherwise unspecified).
To me, the interesting finding there is that preference does not correlate to speed or accuracy for the given task. It might be that even kids just pick the one they think is prettier and that even with kids most folks "like" clean-lined sans-serif.
I know design folks say that sans-serif are good for signs, titles, etc. (which would apply to bear words) and serif are better for prose. I have no idea if there's good data to back that up, though.
https://bigelowandholmes.typepad.com/bigelow-holmes/2014/11/...
https://www.truthorfiction.com/dyslexie-font/
This study looked at OpenDyslexic, and found subjects preferred Verdana and Arial:
http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/sites/default/files/good_fonts...
Whether sans serif or serif fonts are more legible remains contested:
http://alexpoole.info/blog/which-are-more-legible-serif-or-s...
- dyslexia is a condition, not a disease. The underlying problem is not well understood and there are probably multiple causes. The study groups all children together as if they are identical.
- the font is successful if any child benefits from it, not if a majority or average benefit. This kind of flaw seems prevalent in many studies. If it makes reading faster for some children then it’s a benefit. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work for everyone.
- it doesn’t look like these tests were reading-out-loud tests, which is specifically where we have seen the most improvement. In my experience OpenDyslexic improved reading out loud which lead to improved silent reading and significantly improved comprehension over a period of weeks. The important thing here is that dyslexic children use coping mechanisms such as skimming to give the appearance of being able to read like their peers (at least this was this case for us).
Given my own personal experience in which OpenDyslexic (not Dyslexie) has been life changing for my family, the study appears to be bullshit. While I haven’t examined the study in detail, it is not clear that the findings justify the very strong claims that it makes.
1: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/beeline-reader/ifj...
Apps should generally have the ability to allow for custom fonts so dyslexic users can customise them and use their favourite font.
On the topic of fonts, my favourite new learning 'enhancing' font is Sans Forgetica [1] – it's been proven to help you retain and memorise text. Pretty cool.
I can now enjoy any book while before I would sometimes buy a book but never manage to read it correctly since the font would throw me off.
I can only applaud the initiative but I can get that its not for every person with dyslexia.
Much easier to read than Comic Sans.
That page was incredible difficult for me to read.
I actually started and stopped about 10 times because it was so..... disorienting, it almost had me dizzy, and it caused me to jump around on the page.
I'm not dyslexic but sometimes it is hard for me to focus on long texts, I keep skipping words and going back and forth... although I can read quite fast sometimes I read a word for another, when I was a kid it took me quite some time to correctly visualize that "already" is written like that and not "aldeary" and the same thing for a small number of other words. (thanks Baldur's Gate, thanks Ocarina of Time)
When I first opened the site with www it simply felt like a normal sans-serif font (as it was), after reading luisroy comment I changed to the site without www and I must say that it is way easier to read... don't know if it's the spacing or something else, or maybe I'm dyslexic, who knows...
Interesting though :)
Sounds like mild dyslexic symptoms. Have you tried reading with one eye closed? It could be mild convergence issues.
Anyway I have that "eye skipping" thing not just during reading but also in average life situations, when talking to someone I keep changing focus: eyes, mouth, nose, hands, cheeks, right eye, left hand, dog on the background, etc.
If I stare at something trying to keep the focus one of two things happen:
- I loose myself in thoughts
- My eyes get tired and I must stop staring
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/opendyslexic-font-...
That font also looks like the top of the line has been rubbed off, making things far worse as the top of the text has cues to recognise words. I believe that's my issue with caps as it makes words hard to read as I see blocks of letters, not words.
The biggest change I make the text easier to read is to increase the font size a couple of points or zoom in a little (ctrl + mouse wheel/ +-). Right now hacker news is at 150% zoom (snapped to the left side of a 43" 4K monitor).
Also, I prefer not use windows scaling as it wastes a lot of pixels with bigger menu bars (my eyesight is fine). One more thing... I'm very particular about the screen brightness (there's an app called clickMonitorDDC that let's you change screen brightness from mouse wheel or keyboard (crtl+shift+ up/ down)), and blue light filter at night. I find I can focus better in the evening/ night but I believe that's more of an ADHD thing.
Obviously its not going to be the next zilvertype. That to one side, I am curious to hear from people to see if it helps.
I pretty sure this is the basis of why serif fonts aren't as readable on computer displays, the serifs add more noise rather than help.
There is a whitepaper about two research for ones who want to go deeper.
I've talked to many dyslexics who use it and they say it works really well for them, much better than anything they could find.
[disclaimer] I work with the team behind both the Omotype and Omoguru. Would be happy to provide any further info on both.
I think it’s also important to note that, unlike OpenDyslexic, Dislexie and Omotype are not freely licensed.
OmoType is free for personal use.
I see. I missed that.
> OmoType is free for personal use.
By “freely licensed” I was referring to free as in freedom.
On that note, where can I download OmoType? I see I can download software that uses OmoType, but I can’t seem to find where to download the font itself.