"... a variable font empirically shown to significantly improve reading-proficiency"

Marc Oxborrow
Marc Oxborrow Posts: 220
in Type Design Technique & Theory
The latest addition to Google Fonts claims to improve readability, based on a single study of 20 children.

https://thomasjockin.github.io/lexend/


Comments

  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 2,013

  • John Savard
    John Savard Posts: 1,168
    It does seem to be quite a legible typeface. I'm not sure about readable, given that it is sans-serif, but then, if the intent is to help people with poor eyesight, legibility rather than readability is what you would need to improve.
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,275
    “Fonts are harming 7 out of 10 people. This one font can change this injustice”
  • K Pease
    K Pease Posts: 182
    Well, it isn't especially ugly like most of the fonts that claim to cure dyslexia, but the "study" is more ridiculous than usual. And if we want to say there's a difference between legibility and readability, whatever it is, reading aloud is probably a whole third thing entirely, especially for a third-grader who only recently learned to write in sticks and circles.
  • Jens Kutilek
    Jens Kutilek Posts: 370


    Nice try.
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,275

  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,460
    We are all so desperately trying to prove we are real scientists ;-)
  • Craig Eliason
    Craig Eliason Posts: 1,461
    Yeah, controlling for size-on-the-body would've been the first step in a more credible presentation. 

  • John Savard
    John Savard Posts: 1,168
    Given that "Fonts are harming 7 out of 10 people. This one font can change that injustice" is a direct quote from an article about Lexend... yes, there is absolutely no excuse for a claim of that nature.
    7 out of 10 people have bad eyesight, and there is a great conspiracy to make all existing typefaces require near-perfect eyesight to read well? Try telling me another one.
  • Vasil Stanev
    Vasil Stanev Posts: 784
    edited August 2019
    As a voracious reader, I must attest reading speed depends on how much books you've read, in whatever script you are most familiar with. No fancy font is gonna change that. This is my personal opinion.
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,460
    This dog has been beaten so many times it has whiplash

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