Katie Krcmarik
Assistant Professor
Illinois State University
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vision disabilities rank among the top 10 most common disabilities in the United States. The World Health Organization reports that approximately 2.2 billion people worldwide experience some form of vision impairment. With an aging population, the prevalence of vision-related disabilities is expected to rise. Additionally, learning disabilities affecting reading have a significant societal impact, with the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity estimating that approximately 20% of the population experiences dyslexia. Given the number of people affected by some form of vision-related disability, communication design, especially type design, must respond by developing and utilizing typefaces that prioritize disability concerns to reduce barriers to equitable access for written material.
The history of type design often focuses on aesthetics and form, with readability and legibility viewed more through the lens of reproduction and technology. Historically, type designers demonstrated no concerted effort to explore accessibility meaningfully, and even now that we understand accessibility, few center these concerns. Instead, typography functions similarly to an outdated structure needing retrofitting, using legibility testing for typefaces to determine if they meet accessibility standards. Just as retrofitting buildings for accessibility often fails to meet the needs of disabled individuals fully, using typefaces designed without considering accessibility fails to meet the needs of those with reading and vision disabilities.
Despite its ableist history, the field of type design shows promising signs of change. This presentation will explore three typefaces—Lexend, Atkinson Hyperlegible, and Luciole—demonstrating the potential of centering disability needs in developing a typeface without sacrificing aesthetic concerns. The emergence of such typefaces is a beacon of hope, signaling a potential future where collaboration with the disabled community can integrate accessibility without sacrificing aesthetics, challenging misconceptions about accessible design, and paving the way to expand accessibility practices in design.
This design research is presented at Design Incubation Colloquium 11.3: Virtual Summer on Friday, June 20, 2025.