Best and worst fonts for those with underlying vision problems?

[ElizabethB]

Just wondering, I would like to be able to try out best and worst fonts with those of my students that I suspect might have an underlying vision problem.

 

Thanks!

 

Also, any particular colors or does that vary?

[prairiewindmomma]

My ds sees best on white paper, black lettering, with a yellow overlay. He prefers stuff in Verdana 20 pt font with double spacing if he is typing for himself.

 

Verdana is one of the few fonts that distinguishes between l (L) and I (I). It also has more space between each letter.

 

Many other fonts, like Arial, do not distinguish between l and I. (L and I).

Times New Roman does not distinguish between l and 1 very well (L and the number 1).

 

Any handwriting-look font is a nightmare. So are some of the ones with thin lines where the letters are smushed together.

[wapiti]

I vaguely recall that serif is recommended for print vs. sans-serif for screen. A long while back, there may have been a thread - or a news article - about the supposed "best" font for dyslexics, and whatever it was, I was not persuaded.

[ElizabethB]

I vaguely recall that serif is recommended for print vs. sans-serif for screen. A long while back, there may have been a thread - or a news article - about the supposed "best" font for dyslexics, and whatever it was, I was not persuaded.

 

 

I remember that, and I was not so sure about that either...that is why I asked here with people who are engaged and interested about what works for their children, I figured I would get better results here!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

It probably depends on the vision issue. I have low vision due to a central blind spot. I read fonts with serifs best (times new roman for example). I find it almost impossible to read italics. If it is more than a few words in italics, I literally have to cut and paste into word and then take the italics off in order to read it. In a novel, I simply must skip the passage. Same for the handwriting style prints that someone mentioned above.

[wapiti]

It probably depends on the vision issue. I have low vision due to a central blind spot. I read fonts with serifs best (times new roman for example). I find it almost impossible to read italics. If it is more than a few words in italics, I literally have to cut and paste into word and then take the italics off in order to read it. In a novel, I simply must skip the passage. Same for the handwriting style prints that someone mentioned above.

 

I too prefer Times New Roman, at least on paper - it is definitely my default font for word processing. About italics, I know what you mean; it boggles my mind that people actually want to teach their kids to handwrite in italics normally (until this board, I never realized that was even possible).

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

 

I too prefer Times New Roman, at least on paper - it is definitely my default font for word processing. About italics, I know what you mean; it boggles my mind that people actually want to teach their kids to handwrite in italics normally (until this board, I never realized that was even possible).

 

LOL. I don't even want to teach my kdis cursive, because I have no idea how I would read it.

[CaitlinC]

CBC Radio did a piece on fonts for dyslexia which you might find helpful.

 

www.cbc.ca/spark/episodes/2012/10/26/194-dyslexia-documentia-domains/

 

As I recall (I listened to the segment back in November, a lifetime ago lol), they were focusing on this font:

 

opendyslexic.org/

[ElizabethB]

 

LOL. I don't even want to teach my kdis cursive, because I have no idea how I would read it.

 

Sounds like a dad subject! It only takes a few minutes a day. I've found the ZB workbooks very easy to use.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

 

Sounds like a dad subject! It only takes a few minutes a day. I've found the ZB workbooks very easy to use.

 

I will check them out!