Dyslexia-Friendly Design

Using clear typography, spacing, and layout to improve readability for dyslexic users.

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Accessibility

Dyslexia-friendly design ensures that text content is readable and understandable for the roughly 10% of the population with dyslexia, a neurological condition affecting reading and text processing. People with dyslexia may experience letters appearing to move, swap, or blur together. While WCAG doesn't have dyslexia-specific criteria, SC 1.4.8 (Visual Presentation, Level AAA) recommends user-controllable text styling, and SC 1.4.12 (Text Spacing, Level AA) ensures content works with adjusted spacing. The British Dyslexia Association and European Dyslexia Association provide specific typography and layout guidelines that complement WCAG standards.

Why It Matters

Dyslexia affects approximately 10-15% of the global population, making it one of the most common learning differences that directly impacts how people interact with text-heavy interfaces. Users with dyslexia experience difficulties with letter recognition, word decoding, and reading fluency — not with intelligence or comprehension ability. Design choices around typography, spacing, and content structure can either create significant barriers or make text substantially more accessible for this large user group.

Real-World Examples

Atkinson Hyperlegible Font by the Braille Institute

The Braille Institute released Atkinson Hyperlegible, a free typeface specifically designed to maximize character distinction for readers with low vision and dyslexia. Each letterform is crafted to be uniquely recognizable — the lowercase 'a' cannot be confused with 'o', and the 'I', 'l', and '1' are all visually distinct. The font is open source and has been adopted by organizations worldwide as a default accessible typeface.

Kindle's Reading Customization Options

Amazon Kindle allows readers to adjust font family (including OpenDyslexic), font size, line spacing, margins, and background color to create their ideal reading environment. These granular controls let dyslexic readers configure text presentation to match their individual needs without requiring a separate accessible version. The settings persist across devices, so users configure once and read comfortably everywhere.

Counter-example

Legal Document Portal with Justified Serif Text

A legal services portal displays all documents in a small justified serif font with tight line spacing and no option to customize the reading experience. The justified alignment creates uneven spacing that forms visual rivers, the serif font blurs similar characters together, and the tight spacing makes line tracking extremely difficult. Dyslexic users struggle to read essential legal information that directly affects their rights and obligations.

Role-Specific Guidance

Common Mistakes

• The most common mistake is assuming dyslexia-friendly design requires a special font — while helpful, font choice matters far less than proper spacing, contrast, and content structure. Teams frequently use centered or justified body text for aesthetic reasons without recognizing the reading difficulty this creates for dyslexic users. Another prevalent error is presenting dense walls of text without visual breaks, headings, or bullet points, forcing users to rely entirely on sequential reading rather than allowing them to scan and orient themselves.