Influence of increased letter spacing and font type on the reading ability of dyslexic children

Ann Dyslexia. 2018 Oct;68(3):218-228. doi: 10.1007/s11881-018-0164-z. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Abstract

Recent research studies have shown that increased letter spacing has a positive effect on the reading ability of dyslexic individuals. This study aims to investigate the effect of spacing on the readability of different fonts for children with and without dyslexia. Results did not support the hypothesis of better performance among children with dyslexia when reading text in Dyslexie than in other fonts. They, however, revealed that only spacing plays a role in enhancing dyslexic individuals' reading performance because Dyslexie and the Times New Roman interspaced font have no difference. Furthermore, the negative effect of the unfriendly fonts Times New Roman Italic and Curlz MT was eliminated through increased interletter spacing.

Keywords: Dyslexia; Dyslexie; Font; Letter spacing; Reading.

MeSH terms

  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Child
  • Dyslexia / physiopathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Learning / physiology*
  • Male
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / physiology*
  • Photic Stimulation / methods*
  • Reading*
  • Writing*