Titles in Dyslexia Friendly Font

Submitted by Jeff Fisher

We are currently in the process of identifying print materials within the Library's collection that are considered to be published in a dyslexia friendly font.  A dyslexia friendly font is one that is produced with the intent of aiding a person with dyslexia in reading the material.  

Some characteristics of these fonts can include slightly different shapes for each letter, as well as heavier bottoms on the baseline of each character.  Letters with stems, such as 'p' and 'h,' can have those stems elongated beyond the standard length of traditional font.

Cataloging staff have been associating materials determined to have this type of font with the subject tag of 'dyslexia friendly font.'  A patron or staff member searching for 'dyslexia friendly font' in the online catalog will have all titles with this subject tag appear.  The bulk of these items are in the juvenile collection, and many are from a popular juvenile series by actor and author Henry Winkler.  

Materials staff are continuing to call in items from the collection to see if they would qualify for this subject tag.  The number of items meeting this criterion will grow over time as more items are published in these types of fonts.  

A few points to remember:

• Not all items in a dyslexia friendly font will necessarily deal with the subject of dyslexia, or necessarily feature characters with dyslexia.
• Materials featuring dyslexia as a major subject or featuring characters with dyslexia may not necessarily be published in a dyslexic friendly font.
  
• There are a variety of fonts that are considered to dyslexia friendly font.  Some of these fonts are copyrighted and may only be used with the permission of the company that developed them.