Fonts for Accessibility
Font choice is one of the first parts of digital content creation. Accessible fonts are very important and must be factored into the design of content. Accessible fonts have a certain level of legibility, including good height, width, and thickness. Font availability is also important. Ideally, it is best practice to use a font that is fairly popular and widely available to most users.
When creating official Ohio State University content, use the approved Buckeye fonts. To find more information about brand fonts, how to use them and where to download them, check out the Visual Identity Fonts page.
Selecting an accessible font does not have to be hard or make your content look boring. Accessible fonts are fonts that are widely available and consistent across browsers and easy to read for all users. Serif and san-serif fonts are universally accepted fonts for accessibility. Some highly recommended fonts are:
- Verdana (sans-serif)
- Tahoma (sans-serif)
- Arial (sans-serif)
- Helvetica (sans-serif)
- Lucida Sans (sans-serif for Windows)/Lucida Grande (sans-serif for Mac)
- Georgia (serif)
- Palatino (serif)
- Book Antiqua (serif)
Recommended for Dyslexia (not available on most devices):
- OpenDyslexic (Google Chrome extension for OpenDyslexic)
- Dyslexie
Recommended training from BuckeyeLearn:
- Accessibility Fundamentals: Designing an Accessible User Experience
- Web Accessibility: Visual Design and Colors (Accessibility Fundamentals:Designing an Accessible User Experience is a pre-requisite for this training)
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