Several fonts have been designed with the aim of ameliorating some of the reading difficulties experienced by those with dyslexia. Anecdotal reports assert that the use of the dyslexia-friendly font OpenDyslexic mitigates reading difficulties by enhancing legibility through unique letterforms but there are few methodologically rigorous, peer-reviewed studies to substantiate or refute these claims. Without empirical evidence it may not be prudent for educational professionals to recommend that readers with dyslexia use a specific font.

To investigate the impact of font on reading performance this mixed methods study compared the test scores in reading accuracy, reading rate and reading comprehension of 40 Key Stage 2 (KS2) participants with dyslexia and a control group of 38 typically progressing KS2 readers when texts were presented in the fonts OpenDyslexic and Arial. The spacing effect of the default designs of the two fonts was considered by including an expanded version of Arial. A semi-structured interview enabled all participants to voice their preferences and opinions of the two fonts.

Findings showed that participants in both the groups achieved significantly higher test scores in reading accuracy and reading rate when passages were presented in OpenDyslexic font. No significant effect of font was found on reading comprehension scores for either group. The variable of spacing did not demonstrate a significant impact on test scores recorded. Readers’ preferences for font design were influenced by a number of subjective factors and did not align consistently with reading test scores.

The findings of this study suggest that there may be a benefit to offering all reading matter in OpenDyslexic font to young readers with and without reading difficulties.