PSA: Readability-enhancing opensource font 'Atkinson Hyperlegible' has got a 2025 release with a new 'Mono' variant and improvements to the original called 'Next'. Enjoy!
Posted by mhadr@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 58 comments
abotelho-cbn@reddit
Wonderful font, regardless of whether or not someone is a "low vision" person or not. This just makes sense. Having a clear and obvious difference between characters is how all fonts should be.
perkited@reddit
I'm not sure about that, over the years I've probably burned a few thousand calories trying to distinguish between uppercase i, number one, lowercase ell, and pipe symbols (mostly in Windows). Zero and uppercase o contributed as well. I now have a lean and exercised brain.
DuendeInexistente@reddit
https://i.imgur.com/SVJVKeM.png
These look nothing alike.
doomcomplex@reddit
That zero is backwards and it drives me insane
Nareshkendel@reddit
It's to avoid confusion with the Ø
perkited@reddit
Really good there.
abotelho-cbn@reddit
What?
redsteakraw@reddit
One of the only non coding mono fonts that clearly defines O0 and 1Iil.
JuanPabloVassermiler@reddit
Absolutely. Even without context, the font is simply pleasing to the eye. It does seem to share much of its DNA with programming fonts, so I guess the mono variant makes a ton of sense.
syklemil@reddit
I like that the slashed 0 here actually has the slash going the other way than it does in Ø. It seems a lot of monospace designers just test for O0, not O0Ø.
Indolent_Bard@reddit
What even is that third character?
syklemil@reddit
It's the Ø! Slightly different from the empty set character, it's featured in ÆØÅ. It is, essentially, the Norwegian and Danish way of spelling what the Swedes and Germans spell as Ö.
Itt's hard tu get ækross inn Inglisj spelling, bøtt iff Aj jus /r/JuropijanSpeling itt sjaos øpp mår. :)
Indolent_Bard@reddit
I was ALMOST able to read that last part, the ending got me.
syklemil@reddit
In ordinary orthography, it'd be "It's hard to get across in English spelling, but if I use /r/JuropijanSpeling it shows up more".
Indolent_Bard@reddit
thanks.
is_this_temporary@reddit
I'm curious how legible this is for dyslexic people.
It would be great if one font handled both low vision and dyslexic use cases at the same time.
FryBoyter@reddit
I am not affected myself, but some readers of my website are. Based on this, there is not one font that is really suitable for all those suffering. I even had contact with people who prefer fonts that have not been optimised for dislexia.
Indolent_Bard@reddit
That actually makes sense because, as someone posted above, apparently dyslexia isn't a visual-based issue, it's a language processing issue.
Indolent_Bard@reddit
If I ruled the world, every program and game would let you be able to pick your fonts based on legibility.
TeutonJon78@reddit
Open Dyslexic is designed for that condition. It seems legible to me,like as well.
Odd-Possession-4276@reddit
It'll be worse than a specifically-designed one. You'd need a large letter spacing (that could be patched-in) and a peculiar asymmetric font¹ weight to be most effective, which is not optimal for a readability-prioritized font.
Source: https://opendyslexic.org/related-research
¹ the oversimplified explanation is "like always having a reading strip applied to your text"
irasponsibly@reddit
OpenDyslexic isn't always best for everyone with Dyslexia, and Atkinson can work better for some people.
It's also not exactly conclusive that OpenDyslexic works at all or that font really matters for Dyslexia beyond it being clear and legible.
Default_Defect@reddit
I'm not sure I can put it into the right words, but "hyperlegible" makes me laugh because I'm imagining some sort of EXTREME READING scenario. Like seeing a word I can read SO WELL that I react to it like seeing Tony Hawk do a 900 for the first time.
mhadr@reddit (OP)
"Like seeing a word I can read SO WELL that I react to it.."
There you said it! To me that sounds like a perfect use case for making effective road signs, where the goal is to prompt a reaction.
Default_Defect@reddit
Huh, I suppose it hadn't occurred to me that this might be how people that had difficulty with the usual fonts might react to one that is tailored to them.
shigawire@reddit
I wonder if the kerning is deliberately like that or just not enough pairs. It's jarring but only because I'm looking critically at it.
Kok_Nikol@reddit
What is the issue with the kerning here?
ueberbelichtetesfoto@reddit
https://xkcd.com/1015/
shigawire@reddit
Oh yes. :)
Kok_Nikol@reddit
That website is absolutely stunning!
robin-m@reddit
Incredible font. I’ve been using monaspace radon for quite some time, but the legibility of this new font is just mind-blowing!
pepa65@reddit
Immediately started using it on the terminal, very legible!
can_ichange_it_later@reddit
Im only ever changing my terminals font.
Is it just ne?
iamapizza@reddit
I'm sorry but this behaviour is considered an illness. I'm afraid it's terminal.
Keely369@reddit
I would like to offer that it may not be terminal in the hope this will console the previous poster.
korewabetsumeidesune@reddit
Thanks To You, they may feel better.
lelddit97@reddit
HAHAHA I GOT IT
unlike these noobs
korewabetsumeidesune@reddit
Didn't everyone who upvoted me get it?
Keely369@reddit
I see what you did there.. :)
JimmyRecard@reddit
Hopefully that shell make them feel better.
redsteakraw@reddit
I like it now has a mono, so your system and mono font can mesh well and they both clearly define O01Iil
apoorvpotnis@reddit
Eagerly waiting for mathematics support.
githman@reddit
Installed it as an experiment. Reddit definitely looks better in Firefox, not without some poking around. The book I'm reading in Calibre turned so more legible that I reduced the font size - they did a great job not just for English but for the less widespread languages too.
Forcing Plasma to use a non-standard font everywhere is going to be a fun quest. I can tell already.
FryBoyter@reddit
An article has been published at https://www.printmag.com/type-tuesday/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-applied-design/ which goes into more detail about the changes in the next version.
mhadr@reddit (OP)
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
markalt@reddit
Why does it need my email address to download it?
mhadr@reddit (OP)
You don't have to. The fonts are also available from Google Fonts library here https://fonts.google.com/?query=Braille+Institute
korewabetsumeidesune@reddit
And via homebrew:
brew install --cask font-atkinson-hyperlegible-next, etc.onepinksheep@reddit
Nice. Added it as a font option in my ebook reader and it does make things more legible. Thanks for letting us know about this font.
Unknown_dimensoon@reddit
I think I found a new font to try
tigerhawkvok@reddit
Ligatures?
Citizen-Of-Discworld@reddit
Yes! Thank you! It really bugs me when a font doesn't have the proper distinction between 1lI| and O0. I truly, truly believe 0 should always be written with a slash through and "l" should always have a serif at the bottom.
SuspiciousScript@reddit
The italic variant looks extremely slanted, almost distractingly so. I wonder if it's intended to make it distinct from roman.
is_this_temporary@reddit
The difference between italic text and non-italic text often is hard to notice, especially for short bits of italic text in longer non-italic text.
sue_dee@reddit
ISWYDT
Matheweh@reddit
Yay, I've been looking for a Mono font that looks like Atkinson Hyperlegible, this is very nice.
carlgorithm@reddit
Oh I look forward to testing this!
t1x07@reddit
that's really cool! Will give it a shot for sure