Comic Sans. A more inclusive font choice?
An interesting article by Bethany Noble for Collective Hub, THIS UNIVERSALLY HATED FONT IS IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE WITH DYSLEXIA, got me thinking.
As a designer, I want to know my audience and come up with solutions to their problems. Design Thinking and user research methods include users in the design process.
“The audience”, “the users”, however you refer to the ones consuming and interacting with the design, they are people. People come in all shapes and sizes, abilities, backgrounds, experiences, ages, the list goes on… people are diverse.
Part of this diverse spectrum of users includes people with dyslexia (I fall into this category).
If you’re not familiar with dyslexia it basically is something people are born with, which makes reading, in the traditional sense, difficult. There are other factors you can read up on if you’re interested here.
When I’m wearing my visual design hat, and I’ve carefully selected font to reflect the feeling of a brand. Imagining my design being replaced with comic sans doesn’t sound very appealing.
However, when I put on my usability hat, I know that people might not use my design how I assumed they would. They might have the fonts of the browser window set differently because it’s easier for them to read. What if it’s a graphic or a print piece? They couldn’t change the font on that… could they?
Designers serve the people who are using their designs, whether it be a poster, website, email, product, etc. I love the idea of empowering people to consume information the way that is best for them. Technology has made this easier to do on the web, as long as we are intentional with how we design it and build it correctly.
How can we make our designs more accessible and inclusive outside of the digital space? How can we make our designs so usable that our users won’t have to ask for a version that they can consume?
That’s a big challenge. An exciting one! How would you solve this problem, design with a dash of technology? Or maybe something completely different, what are your thoughts?
Kathleen MacAinsh is a seasoned designer, who has been creating digital experiences professionally since 2006. Aside from her professional work, she enjoys researching and practicing methods for optimizing productivity, improving organization systems and living a balanced lifestyle. She’s a proud Canadian, currently living in Southwestern Ontario with her husband, two children and her fur baby, “Kobi”.
