Module 1 Book: Formatting Course Content so it's Accessible: Font

Font

Choices of font and font size can be important considerations for learners who have reduced vision or those who have perceptual challenges. Clear, well-spaced text makes it much easier to interpret a document. Platforms like Moodle and WordPress have default paragraph sizes, but consideration should be given to font selection and font size when designing documents to be uploaded online. Recommended font size is between 10-14 to display well on a monitor. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) recommends ensuring text can be zoomed to 200%.

A general design principal for typography is for headings to be one type of font (e.g. Sans Serif) and the body text to be the opposite (e.g. Serif). Selecting serif fonts is no longer considered problematic for display purposes, provided learners are using a relatively recent operating system and browser. Be consistent in font choices for all headings and all body text used throughout your document. This will make your document easier to interpret and more professional looking.

Serif: Strokes extend out from the top and/or bottom of the letterforms

Sans Serif: Strokes do not extend out from the top or bottom of the letterform

(Penn State Accessibility) https://accessibility.psu.edu/fontfacehtml/

Use of Emphasis

The use of bold and italics should be used sparingly to draw attention to key concepts. Italics can be difficult to read online due to the resolution. Reserve using bold for emphasis and italics for the titles of works, terms that are being used abnormally, or when called for in your academic field.