OpenDyslexic

A Typeface For Dyslexia

As Susan Allen mentioned in this week’s podcast, one of the tenets of librarianship is providing and advocating for access to information and resources for all patrons.  To that end, I researched the best accessibility resources for school libraries. My research led me to an article on the Gale blog written by head librarian of Grove City High School Amy Wise, titled Accessibility Features to Support All Students. Amy shared a personal story about how Gale’s updates in text-display features within many of their digital resources foster reading accessibility for students. One update in particular really made a difference in one student’s life, the use of OpenDyslexic.  

A few additional thoughts...

Cost
While many dyslexic font resources have a cost, OpenDyslexic is a free resource.

Ease of Use
OpenDyslexic is very user-friendly. It’s easy to access and download for various operating systems and web browsers. Many districts use Google Classroom and it's various applications for classroom management. OpenDyslexic does not work in Google apps; however, there is a comparable Google font called Lexend. You can find out more here. 

Alright colleagues, I encourage you to consider adding OpenDyslexic to your educator toolbox. Let me know what you think! 

You can find OpenDyslexic at opendyslexic.org.