Does font improve reading in dyslexic children?: meta-analysis of dyslexia-friendly fonts and dyslexic children's reading performance.

IF 4.5 3区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Annals of Dyslexia Pub Date : 2026-07-31 DOI:10.1007/s11881-026-00389-8

Caterina Azzarello, SueHyeon Paek, Catie Hodge, Molly Jameson, Joanna Lewis

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This meta-analysis investigates the effectiveness of dyslexia-friendly fonts, such as OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie, on improving reading performance among dyslexic students. Dyslexic students face considerable challenges in digital reading, which impacts their academic performance, particularly in subjects with high reading demands. While specialized fonts have been proposed as potential solutions, research findings are inconsistent. This meta-analysis synthesizes data from 15 empirical studies (91 effect sizes; N = 688) examining whether these specialized fonts offer significant improvements in reading performance in dyslexic readers compared to standard fonts like Times New Roman and Arial. Using a random-effects model, the results indicate that dyslexia-friendly fonts have no consistent or reliable effect on reading performance in terms of speed or accuracy. The overall effect size was negligible, g = -0.04, 95% CI [-0.15, 0.07], z = - 0.67, p = 0.5. The findings suggest that while certain typographical features may aid legibility, dyslexia-friendly fonts do not offer substantial benefits over traditional fonts for dyslexic readers. This meta-analysis provides critical insights for educators and developers of assistive technologies, emphasizing the need for further research to explore alternative strategies for supporting individuals with dyslexia in their academic pursuits.

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字体能提高阅读困难儿童的阅读能力吗？：阅读障碍性字体与儿童阅读表现的meta分析。

本荟萃分析调查了阅读障碍友好型字体（如OpenDyslexic和Dyslexie）在提高阅读障碍学生阅读表现方面的有效性。阅读困难的学生在数字阅读方面面临着相当大的挑战，这影响了他们的学习成绩，特别是在阅读要求高的科目上。虽然专门的字体被提出作为潜在的解决方案，但研究结果并不一致。这项荟萃分析综合了15项实证研究的数据（91个效应大小；N = 688），研究这些特殊字体是否比标准字体（如Times New Roman和Arial）能显著提高阅读障碍读者的阅读表现。使用随机效应模型，结果表明，阅读障碍友好型字体在阅读速度或准确性方面没有一致或可靠的影响。总体效应大小可以忽略不计，g = -0.04, 95% CI [-0.15, 0.07], z = - 0.67, p = 0.5。研究结果表明，虽然某些排版特征可能有助于易读性，但对阅读困难的读者来说，友好型字体并没有比传统字体有实质性的好处。这项荟萃分析为教育工作者和辅助技术的开发者提供了重要的见解，强调了进一步研究的必要性，以探索在学术追求中支持阅读障碍患者的替代策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Annals of Dyslexia Multiple-

CiteScore

4.90

自引率

8.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Annals of Dyslexia is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the scientific study of dyslexia, its comorbid conditions; and theory-based practices on remediation, and intervention of dyslexia and related areas of written language disorders including spelling, composing and mathematics. Primary consideration for publication is given to original empirical studies, significant review, and well-documented reports of evidence-based effective practices. Only original papers are considered for publication.