Dyslexie - finally a font for dyslexia that works

Dyslexie font is a special font developed and designed for people with dyslexia to make reading, learning and working easier – and more fun.


I discovered this font in a bbc article  

Dyslexie is a font that aims to overcome some of the problems that people with dyslexia can have when reading. Due to the way their brains process visual information, they will often subconsciously switch, rotate and mirror letters, making it harder to recognise the characters.
It is thought that their brains start treating two-dimensional letters as three-dimensional objects that can be freely manipulated.
When this happens, the letter “b” can look like a “d”… or a “p” or a “q”. It is easy to see why this can quickly become confusing.
“Traditionally in typeface design, there are ‘rules’ that say it is best to make the letters as uniform as possible,” says Boer, now 36. “If you make the arch of an “h” the same as an “n”, it produces a typeface that is clean and quiet for ordinary readers. For me, these letters become three dimensional so you can turn them around and they begin to look alike. What I wanted to do was to slap these 3D letters flat.”

Unlike many traditional typefaces, the Dyslexie font is strongly asymmetric. Instead of keeping the letters a uniform size, some have longer “sticks” that help to make them stand out more in words. Similarly, letters that look alike, such as “v”, “w” and “y”, vary in their height when they are typed.
The shapes of the letters are also asymmetric, with the top of a “b” being narrower than the top of a “d”, making them easier to distinguish.

As a person with strong dyslexia, I find the written word a struggle.  With technology, I can communicate (thank you Grammarly for making a spell check that can actually figure out what word I'm trying to write)... but reading is still difficult.  This is why I'm so excited to discover this new font.

The samples I've seen of Dyslexie are very easy to read.  So I'm going to subscribe and try it out.  It looks like they have a plugin for chrome, which is where most of my trouble is these days.  

You can find more information on Dyslexie and how to download it here

This is what it looks like!  Amazing!  

OpenDyslexic Font, Ubuntu Linux

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:OpenDyslexic Font, Ubuntu Linux

It looks like the same font under a different name.

It looks like the actual font Dyslexie is free for anyone, but the chrome plugin and the software to convert pdf into Dyslexie cost a subscription fee.  

So far today, it's been an adjustment, but reading is much quicker than normal.  I'm almost up to half the normal reading speed for a human.  That's actually really impressive.  

I'm so glad they've found something that helps people with dyslexia.

I don't have dyslexia and even I use the font most of the time when reading on my Kindle or on Hoopla.  It's just easier somehow.  

r ranson wrote:

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:OpenDyslexic Font, Ubuntu Linux

It looks like the same font under a different name.

Nope. I personally know Abbie Gonzalez. His wife is dyslexic, and he couldn't stand that Dyslexie was for pay so he built OpenDyslexic on his own. He even got an e-book maker to add it to their tablet so his wife could enjoy reading again. Really good guy. He's been through some tough times so any voluntary donations headed his way would be nice. Oh, and his son is a huge Trekkie.

Ron Helwig wrote:

r ranson wrote:

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:OpenDyslexic Font, Ubuntu Linux

It looks like the same font under a different name.

Nope. I personally know Abbie Gonzalez. His wife is dyslexic, and he couldn't stand that Dyslexie was for pay so he built OpenDyslexic on his own. He even got an e-book maker to add it to their tablet so his wife could enjoy reading again. Really good guy. He's been through some tough times so any voluntary donations headed his way would be nice. Oh, and his son is a huge Trekkie.

That's great!

I was confused because the example for OpenDyslexic Font used the text describing Dyslexie.  Thanks for enlightening me.  

But it sure is awesome to discover that there are people out there helping to make life easier for people with dyslexia.  

Links I found:
OpenDyslexic
wiki about OpenDyslexic

I checked my Kindle, and the font says OpenDyslexic.  Anyway, awesome.  

On a related note, look into Irlen Syndrome:
What is Irlen Syndrome
If letters don't sit still on the page, or you've noticed that certain shades of filters help you read, it's worth getting screened. Sometimes the filters work, sometimes they don't.

Interesting - I'd never heard of Irlen syndrome but some of these effects are very familiar to me, especially if I'm stressed or overtired.

You are already very prolific around here. I suppose this may increase your output further. So, I assume this will help you on both the reading and the writing end of things. I wonder if you could use voice to text for some things and then have it show up in that particular text, for your proofreading.

r ranson wrote:Dyslexie font is a special font developed and designed for people with dyslexia to make reading, learning and working easier – and more fun.


I discovered this font in a bbc article  

Dyslexie is a font that aims to overcome some of the problems that people with dyslexia can have when reading. Due to the way their brains process visual information, they will often subconsciously switch, rotate and mirror letters, making it harder to recognise the characters.
It is thought that their brains start treating two-dimensional letters as three-dimensional objects that can be freely manipulated.
When this happens, the letter “b” can look like a “d”… or a “p” or a “q”. It is easy to see why this can quickly become confusing.
“Traditionally in typeface design, there are ‘rules’ that say it is best to make the letters as uniform as possible,” says Boer, now 36. “If you make the arch of an “h” the same as an “n”, it produces a typeface that is clean and quiet for ordinary readers. For me, these letters become three dimensional so you can turn them around and they begin to look alike. What I wanted to do was to slap these 3D letters flat.”

Unlike many traditional typefaces, the Dyslexie font is strongly asymmetric. Instead of keeping the letters a uniform size, some have longer “sticks” that help to make them stand out more in words. Similarly, letters that look alike, such as “v”, “w” and “y”, vary in their height when they are typed.
The shapes of the letters are also asymmetric, with the top of a “b” being narrower than the top of a “d”, making them easier to distinguish.

As a person with strong dyslexia, I find the written word a struggle.  With technology, I can communicate (thank you Grammarly for making a spell check that can actually figure out what word I'm trying to write)... but reading is still difficult.  This is why I'm so excited to discover this new font.

The samples I've seen of Dyslexie are very easy to read.  So I'm going to subscribe and try it out.  It looks like they have a plugin for chrome, which is where most of my trouble is these days.  

You can find more information on Dyslexie and how to download it here

I'm glad to note that others follow the BBC as well. My wife is a dyslectic as well. Very frustrating for her although in  her case it has made her a great kindergarten teacher. She has a sixt sense to pick out the kids with similar problems.