A team from the University of Twente, in the Netherlands, has developed a new ‘Dyslexie’ typeface, designed to help dyslexic people read more easily.
It’s based on the notion that of the 26 letters in the standard Latin-based alphabet, as used in English, many of the letters look similar – such as v/w, i/j and m/n – thus people with dyslexia often confuse these letters. So by creating a new typeface where the differences in these letters are emphasized, it was found that dyslexic people made fewer errors.
See for yourself how it works:
More information on the project can be found at Studio Studio (in Dutch).
Update
The Dyslexie typeface wasn’t in fact developed by the University of Twente, it was developed by Christian Boer from Studio Studio in 2008. The University of Twente only carried out the study of the typeface. The project website is now also available in English.
Like.
@Michael yeah!
Dyslexic here, the font indeed does read fast and easy. Like!
Only thing: the “d” feels awkward. Why is it narrow at the bottom. It’s against the designer’s principles…
It seems that the University of Twente only researched whether it makes reading easier for people with dyslexia. As far as I know, Studio Studio is not affiliated with the University.
Christian Boer / studiostudio.
You are right Ben Companjen. I have made the typeface dyslexie and the University of Twente did only independent research on the typeface dyslexie. I will translate the website in Enlish. Thit will be ready next Tuesday.
@Ben Companjen Hi Ben, thanks for your comment. I’ve provided an update now.
@Christian Boer Hi Christian, thanks for your comment – and yes, an update has been provided. I’ve had some good feedback on this typeface, it seems you’ve done a brilliant job developing this.
The website is now also in English
This could make the life in school easier for so many kids!
harder in some respects because they still need coping mechanisms everywhere else (stores, street signs, books outside their educational system) and not all dyslexsics see things the same way. some people transpose, but don’t rotate.
Very interesting!
Seems like the site is down?
The hosting server have set me offline by too much traffic. So I have moved the site to another hosting.
the website is back online
I agree! I get this weird feeling like it reads itself to me, with very little effort on my part! Really nice!
But where can we download it?
What is the URL for the English version of the website?
AND can we get this font to try on our own?
@randomcontent http://www.studiostudio.nl/en/project-dyslexie/
I love it, though I wish the font was available for free at least as a webfont.
While the concept is brilliant and much needed, the typeface itself is not very attractive. I would love to see this retooled based upon more classically drawn typefaces.
Is there any way we can get the font free for education? It seems crazy that only dyslexic people at rich school should be able to read easily.
@Cristiano Betta I agree this font should be free as a webfont butonly charged for commercial purposes
Does it’s level of attractiveness really matter? The fact is it works!!!!!! Such a shame it’s not widely available :-(