Dyslexic designer launches easy to read font for free online
Dyslexic designer Christian Boer has created a font which is easier for dyslexia sufferers to read.
Designed in 2008 as part of his Utrecht Art Academy thesis, Boer has since made 'Dyslexie' available online for free and 12,000 people have downloaded it.
"I put it on my website…within 15 days my hosting company for the website called me and said, 'You have too much traffic'," he said. "99 per cent of graduation projects end up in someone's closet and that's it. I never expiated this to happen."
Dyslexie, is taller and more bottom-heavy making it easier to distinguish with a study from the University of Amsterdam showing that the font appeared to help those with dyslexia read faster and with fewer errors.
"In a normal font, you want a uniform typeface - the arch in 'h' fits with the 'm' and 'n'," he explained. "It's nice for the eye, but for people with dyslexia, those letters become twins."
Of the decision to post the font online, Boer said: "It is often the children at home. It is like when I was home with my mother, struggling through language - they must have it for free."
Despite some fonts being easier for sufferers to read there is no universal font that all dyslexics can read with ease.