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Guidelines for Making Fonts Accessible
Last update: May 15, 2009

Word Version of These Guidelines

(Not in any particular order)

This article is based on research by  Mansfield, J. Stephen, Gordon E Legge, and Marc C. Bane. as reported in "Psychophysics of reading. XV. Font effects in normal and low vision." Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. July, 1996.

These days, people with low vision have more and more materials to read. As our population of senior citizens grows, materials previously available only in small print are now commonly prepared in large print. We need to pay attention to how we format these materials, whether in hard copy or electronic media, to give readers with low vision optimum comfort and efficiency.

Studies by Drs. Mansfield, Legge, and Bane at the University of Minnesota show that certain fonts provide significant advantages to readers who have low vision, as well as to those with normal vision. These researchers tested readers using fixed-width fonts, variable-width fonts (proportional), serif (with tails and curlicues) and sans serif fonts to see how they affected reading speeds and acuities. They found that people with low vision had higher reading speeds and better reading acuities when they used sans serif fonts with fixed width. Although differences in speed and acuities were smaller than for the low-vision group, they found the same to be true for readers with normal vision. They concluded that "choice of font could make a significant difference in both normal and low-vision reading performance."

When you prepare materials, you can enhance reading performance by observing a few simple rules. These rules hold true for both people with low vision and those with normal vision. The benefits may be appreciated more by readers who have low-vision. These rules are:

1.    Employ fonts without serifs (APHont, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica).

2.    Employ fonts with a fixed width (APHont, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica).

3.    Use bold letters whenever possible.

4.    Use APHont, Verdana, Arial, or Helvetica as the default font in electronic media.

5.    Be sure to provide good contrast between the background color and the print color. (Black on white is good, but for many readers white on black--or yellow on black is better.)

6.    Make sure the print size is large enough for your reader to use comfortably.

Fancy fonts and italics may look attractive to you. For the reader with low vision, however, they can be confusing and sometimes impossible to read. When preparing materials for readers with low vision, a simple rule of thumb is: the simpler, the bolder, the better.

APHont: A Font for Low Vision

Editor's Note: This article by Elaine Kitchel was reprinted from Technology Update 14 (Fall-Winter 1998): 29-30. Updated 8/2002 (APHont added)

APHont (pronounced Ay'-font), was developed by the American Printing House specifically for low vision readers.

APHont embodies characteristics that have been shown to enhance reading speed, comprehension, and comfort for large print readers. The entire APHont Suite (Regular, Bold, Italic, and Italic Bold) is available free-of-charge on the APH web site.

Features of APHont include

●       Higher crossbars

●       No serifs

●       Wider letters

●       Heavier letters

●       Letters more open

●       Larger punctuation marks

APH makes no claim that APHont is an appropriate font for children who are just learning to read.

How to Request APHont: Before downloading APHont, users must validate that APHont will be used by or for people who are visually impaired. You can download APHont by clicking on this link.

Skip to content

Guidelines for Making Fonts Accessible
Last update: February 1, 2010

Word Version of These Guidelines

(Not in any particular order)

This article is based on research by  Mansfield, J. Stephen, Gordon E Legge, and Marc C. Bane. as reported in "Psychophysics of reading. XV. Font effects in normal and low vision." Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. July, 1996.

These days, people with low vision have more and more materials to read. As our population of senior citizens grows, materials previously available only in small print are now commonly prepared in large print. We need to pay attention to how we format these materials, whether in hard copy or electronic media, to give readers with low vision optimum comfort and efficiency.

Studies by Drs. Mansfield, Legge, and Bane at the University of Minnesota show that certain fonts provide significant advantages to readers who have low vision, as well as to those with normal vision. These researchers tested readers using fixed-width fonts, variable-width fonts (proportional), serif (with tails and curlicues) and sans serif fonts to see how they affected reading speeds and acuities. They found that people with low vision had higher reading speeds and better reading acuities when they used sans serif fonts with fixed width. Although differences in speed and acuities were smaller than for the low-vision group, they found the same to be true for readers with normal vision. They concluded that "choice of font could make a significant difference in both normal and low-vision reading performance."

When you prepare materials, you can enhance reading performance by observing a few simple rules. These rules hold true for both people with low vision and those with normal vision. The benefits may be appreciated more by readers who have low-vision. These rules are:

1.    Employ fonts without serifs (APHont, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica).

2.    Employ fonts with a fixed width (APHont, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica).

3.    Use bold letters whenever possible.

4.    Use APHont, Verdana, Arial, or Helvetica as the default font in electronic media.

5.    Be sure to provide good contrast between the background color and the print color. (Black on white is good, but for many readers white on black--or yellow on black is better.)

6.    Make sure the print size is large enough for your reader to use comfortably.

Fancy fonts and italics may look attractive to you. For the reader with low vision, however, they can be confusing and sometimes impossible to read. When preparing materials for readers with low vision, a simple rule of thumb is: the simpler, the bolder, the better.

APHont: A Font for Low Vision

Editor's Note: This article by Elaine Kitchel was reprinted from Technology Update 14 (Fall-Winter 1998): 29-30. Updated 8/2002 (APHont added)

APHont (pronounced Ay'-font), was developed by the American Printing House specifically for low vision readers.

APHont embodies characteristics that have been shown to enhance reading speed, comprehension, and comfort for large print readers. The entire APHont Suite (Regular, Bold, Italic, and Italic Bold) is available free-of-charge on the APH web site.

Features of APHont include

●       Higher crossbars

●       No serifs

●       Wider letters

●       Heavier letters

●       Letters more open

●       Larger punctuation marks

APH makes no claim that APHont is an appropriate font for children who are just learning to read.

How to Request APHont: Before downloading APHont, users must validate that APHont will be used by or for people who are visually impaired. You can download APHont by clicking on this link.