Introduction
Reading was never my activity of choice. I liked the idea of books, but I was never able to finish one. Compared to my peers, it always felt like I needed more time to read and process the information. I had come to terms with this aspect of my identity until a colleague at Artha shared her experience with the Lexend font. After using this font to read and write, I realized that, maybe, I could be a reader. This revelation has deepened my understanding of the role of typography and its impacts on people with diverse reading abilities.
My Reading Revelation
My Reading Struggle
Reading has always been an unpleasant experience. I would often get lost between the lines, needing to restart from the beginning as my eyes criss-crossed over each word, leaving me wondering what I had just read. I wasn’t actually reading. I was just looking at the words.
The Lexend Discovery
When I learned about Lexend, I didn’t think too much about it. It looked like just another sans serif font. But its claims intrigued me. I tested it against Arial by creating two identical texts. To my surprise, I spent less energy reading the Lexend text. My eyes felt less strained, I focused better, and read! Using it for writing reports, I was able to see and process words as I wrote. The experience felt smoother. Since I could stay focused longer, I developed deeper thoughts and better ideas instead of being cognitively overloaded.
Personal Reflections
This experience had me wondering about my school years. Would I have had a better relationship with books? Would my academic performance have improved? When teaching English, would I have needed to lie about enjoying reading? Though I can’t answer these questions, knowing a simple font change could transform one’s experience has deepened my understanding of typography’s role and its impact on those with diverse reading abilities.
What Makes Lexend Different
I wanted to know the magic. What made Lexend different? According to Lexend.com, Dr. Bonnie Shaver-Troup, an educational therapist, observed that text presentation was masking her clients’ true capabilities. Working with Google, she designed a font with specific characteristics: sans-serif to reduce cognitive noise, expanded scaling to improve character recognition, and hyper-expanded character spacing to reduce crowding and masking effects.
Google Design’s case study revealed that Lexend has helped not only people with dyslexia but also those without identified reading difficulties. Its adjustable nature allows users to find settings that suit their specific needs, similar to how eyeglasses aren’t one-size-fits-all.
Typography Myths: What Really Makes Fonts Readable
While I haven’t found empirical studies specifically on Lexend, Marinus et al. (2016) found that participants read more efficiently with the Dyslexie font versus Arial. Interestingly, when Arial’s spacing matched Dyslexie’s, reading efficiency remained comparable, suggesting the advantage may lie in letter spacing rather than letter design. This supports Shaver-Troup’s theories on spacing, though research indicates spacing benefits vary among individuals.
When I was learning about typography, sans serif fonts like Arial and Helvetica were mentioned as being the accessible ones for their visual simplicity and lack of decorative features. However, Minakata and Beier (2022) found that there was no compelling evidence for choosing sans serif fonts over serif ones for accessibility. Results showed that stroke contrast was the key factor. Fonts with low stroke contrast generally performed better in terms of word recognition and reading at smaller sizes. The article concluded that sans serif fonts with low stroke contrast may be more accessible depending on conditions, but serif fonts themselves do not reduce accessibility.
Both studies have limitations, and more research is needed. It seems that there are some supporting findings about the font’s spacing feature, though its lack of serif may not necessarily contribute to better readability.
My Experience and Takeaways
So far, Lexend has mostly been a trusty companion to my writing experiences. Since using it for storyboarding, note-taking, and creative writing at Artha, I can focus for longer periods, increasing my productivity while feeling less tired. There is a browser plug-in for Chrome/Firefox, though at the time of writing, it did not perform as described. It would have been useful for reading websites. While my experience with the Lexend font has been relatively positive, it’s not the only “readable” font. I also like PT mono, a typewriter-style font. Many people have their preference in fonts, and typography nerds doubt that there is a perfect font. Nevertheless, in a world with so many fonts and font settings, it’s great that there is a wide selection for users to choose from and play with.
Typography is one half of readable content; wording is the other. See accessible and inclusive language in eLearning and choosing visuals that make your learning resources impactful.
Conclusion
If you’ve always thought that you were bad at reading or never enjoyed reading (or writing), you should try the Lexend font because you probably aren’t the problem! In fact, through this trial, I’ve learned that even though our environment shapes us, we also have the power to shape and create one that allows us to be the best versions of ourselves. And as instructional designers, it’s a powerful reminder of the responsibility we have to ensure our learners have the best learning experience so that they can achieve the best possible outcome.
If you have never audited a course for accessibility, is your eLearning truly accessible? is the place to start, and our free accessible eLearning ebook and checklist gives you something to run against.
