Feb 15, 2022

Teaming Up to Improve Reading Research

Google co-sponsors The Readability Consortium

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Literacy is one of the greatest tools for reducing inequality. The ability to read and write enables individuals to secure better jobs, access vital resources, and meaningfully participate in their communities. And yet, at least 773 million people lack basic literacy skills, according to the United Nations.

Google Fonts aims to be part of the solution to this global problem by improving literacy and readability through technology. Google recently joined The Readability Consortium, a collaborative research initiative with Adobe, the University of Central Florida, and Readability Matters, focusing on how to customize the reading experience using fonts.

The group believes that personalization via technology may be one of the keys to improving literacy. By determining the best format for each person and enabling them to carry that format with them across devices, The Readability Consortium imagines a future where readers have the ability to change fonts, size, spacing, and other settings to improve their reading experience using open-source tools.

"Google joined The Readability Consortium to help people to easily reach their potential for fluent reading in any writing system or language, all around the world,” says Lead Researcher for Google Fonts, Dr. Hilary Palmén.

The work builds on the customization approach of Material You and research the Google Fonts team is already doing to better understand what makes fonts readable to different people. In particular, the team has been excited about the possibilities for personalization using variable fonts. A variable font is a single font file that behaves like multiple font styles. The relatively new type technology allows one font file to store a continuum of different styles, opening up new opportunities to adapt to reader needs. For example, users can select which width setting helps them read better, such as with the Lexend font that was specifically designed for those with dyslexia. While an optical size axis can make smaller styles more legible through careful tuning of letterforms.

Google is committed to offering fonts and products to people with a variety of reading,  visual, and educational needs. There is an Arabic extension of Lexend called Readex Pro. Atkinson Hyperlegible was made for low-vision users. Both Lexend and Atkinson Hyperlegible are available in Google Workspace in Docs and Slides. The team hopes to apply any additional insights towards improving Google products, like Google Fonts and Material Design.

The findings will be open-sourced and will aid not just individual readers, but also educators and educational therapists teaching children how to read. To learn more about The Readability Consortium , visit: thereadabilityconsortium.org. To learn more about variable fonts and how they may enhance readability, visit readabilitymatters.org/articles/promise-of-variable-fonts.