Font Legibility

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated September 9, 2025
One of the most important decisions you make when creating classroom or workplace documents is the choice of font. Fonts may seem like a small detail, but they can make or break the readability of a document—for everyone, and especially for individuals with visual impairments.

Font Selection

When creating instructional or professional materials, font choice plays a critical role in readability and accessibility. Follow these guidelines:
  • Avoid decorative or overly stylized fonts. These can be used sparingly for emphasis but are not suitable for continuous text.
  • Use sans serif fonts for most text. Sans serif fonts lack the small strokes (serifs) found in fonts like Times New Roman, making them cleaner and easier to read. Examples include Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and APHont, a font designed for readers with low vision.
  • Use serif fonts sparingly. They may work well for headings or titles but are harder to read in long passages.
Studies show that sans serif fonts improve readability and reduce eye strain, making them ideal for classroom and digital materials.
Application Matters:
  • Keep fonts consistent. Avoid switching fonts throughout a document, as consistency supports readability.
  • Use Styles rather than manual formatting. In Microsoft Word, apply fonts through Styles (e.g., “Normal,” “Heading 1”) instead of the toolbar dropdown. This ensures uniformity and simplifies future adjustments.
  • Ensure cross-platform compatibility. Stick to widely available fonts like Arial or Verdana when sharing documents across platforms such as Google Docs, which may substitute less common fonts and affect layout and readability.
Thoughtful font selection and consistent application enhance accessibility, ensuring that all students—including those with visual impairments—can access and read your materials effectively. Clear fonts benefit every reader, making your content more universally usable.
Note: The APHont font, developed by the American Printing House for the Blind, is designed to enhance character distinction and spacing. It is available for free for non-commercial purposes.

​Point Size

  • Font Size. Font size is a critical factor in the readability of printed materials. Selecting the appropriate size ensures that students can access information comfortably and consistently.
  • Standard Print. For general classroom materials, use a minimum of 11–12 point font, which is considered standard print. Avoid reducing text size to fit more content on a page, as this can make materials difficult or impossible to read for students with visual impairments.
  • Large Print. For students who require large print, the minimum recommended size is 16 point. Large print is not one-size-fits-all; the Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) will determine whether a student needs large print and the specific point size that works best for them.
  • Using a Typometer.  A typometer is a simple tool for verifying font size and spacing in printed materials:
    • Free templates are available online and can be printed on acetate.
    • Commercial versions are also available for purchase.
      By placing the typometer over the text, teachers can quickly confirm whether the print meets the required size.
  • Additional Considerations. Students who require large print will ideally have:
    • Participated in a low vision evaluation and received any prescribed devices to support print access.
    • Completed an assistive technology evaluation to determine appropriate tools, such as magnification software, screen readers, or digital devices. 

Avoid All Caps

​Avoid using all capital letters in titles, and especially in longer passages. Text written in all caps is much harder to read than text written in sentence case. If you want to emphasize words or phrases, use bold, italics, underlining, or quotation marks instead. Capitalization should be reserved for proper nouns, acronyms, or standard title capitalization.
It’s also best to avoid decorative effects such as text shadows. While they may seem to add visual interest, shadows often reduce legibility and make text appear less clean and professional.

Aligning Text

When formatting text, left alignment is the most accessible and reader-friendly choice. Left-aligned text provides a consistent starting point, making it easier for all readers to quickly locate the beginning of each line or paragraph. In contrast, right-aligned or centered text can be difficult to follow, especially for individuals using magnification, as it requires extra effort to track and locate the text. Fully justified text should also be avoided, as it forces uneven spacing between words and letters, disrupting the natural flow of reading and reducing legibility. Additionally, breaking words between lines with hyphens interrupts the reading process and can hinder comprehension.

Color Contrast

Text and materials should be presented with the highest possible contrast to maximize legibility. High contrast makes print easier to read and also helps students with low vision locate items more effectively in their environment. Strong combinations include yellow on blue, white on red, yellow on black, or black on pink. In contrast, poor combinations such as black on blue, yellow on red, gray on black, or gray on pink significantly reduce readability.
High contrast should be applied not only to printed materials but also throughout daily activities and environments. For example, present dark objects on a light-colored tray, use a light cutting board when preparing dark foods, or place dark rugs on light tile. These strategies make items easier to see, improve efficiency, and increase safety.
For text specifically, the best choices are:
  • Dark text (black or navy) on a light background (white or pale yellow)
  • Light text on a dark background (less common, but effective for some students)
Avoid low-contrast color combinations such as:
  • Gray on white
  • Yellow on light green
  • Red on black
Don’t Convey Meaning with Color Alone
Information should never rely solely on color to convey meaning, as many individuals—including those with color vision differences or age-related changes in vision—may have difficulty distinguishing colors. To ensure accessibility, provide additional visual cues such as patterns, textures, labels, or symbols when presenting information in charts, graphs, maps, or other materials. Using multiple ways to communicate the same information ensures that all users can accurately interpret the content, regardless of their ability to perceive color.

​Adequate Spacing

Proper spacing between letters, lines, and paragraphs is essential for readability, particularly for students with central field loss, tracking difficulties, or other visual challenges.
Line and Letter Spacing:
  • Line spacing: Use 1.5 spacing rather than single spacing when possible.
  • Letter spacing: Avoid fonts or formatting where letters are tightly packed.
White Space:
​In addition to font, size, and contrast, adequate white space is crucial. Space above and below text, between lines, and between paragraphs reduces visual clutter and enhances the reading experience. White space also clarifies relationships between grouped items, making content easier to navigate and understand. When designing documents, slides, or websites, consider adding extra spacing around headers, between paragraphs, and between columns. Reducing text density or spreading content across multiple pages further improves legibility and accessibility. 

​Backgrounds

Using plain, uncluttered backgrounds is essential for accessible text. Complex or graphic backgrounds can make text difficult to read, even for individuals without visual impairments, by reducing contrast and creating visual distractions. To maximize readability, keep backgrounds simple and high-contrast. Avoid using blue as a background color, as research shows it causes the eyes to work significantly harder than colors like red, pink, orange, or yellow. Similarly, gray should generally be avoided in both text and background, as it provides poor contrast and diminishes legibility. Simple, high-contrast backgrounds help ensure that text and other important visual information are easily readable for everyone.
Collaborate with the student to identify what works best in various settings. Font preferences may change based on task complexity, environment, and visual fatigue. Ongoing evaluation ensures materials remain accessible and effective.

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Font Legibility Handout
Font Legibility Handout