Designed to Be Read
Why This Matters Here
Dyslexia often runs in families, so many of the parents who visit this site find reading effortful themselves. The same design choices that help dyslexic readers, such as clear type, short lines, and plain language, make the site easier for everyone.
What This Site Does
- Short Lines of Text
- Body text is limited to about 65 characters per line. Long lines are one of the most common barriers for dyslexic readers, because the eye loses its place on the return sweep.
- Left-Aligned, Never Justified
- Text is left-aligned with a ragged right edge. Justified text creates uneven spacing between words, which makes tracking harder.
- Clear, Simple Type
- Body text is set in a plain sans-serif face at a comfortable size, with generous line spacing. Long passages avoid italics and all capitals, which remove the word shapes readers rely on.
- Soft Backgrounds and Strong Contrast
- Text sits on soft off-white backgrounds rather than harsh pure white, and color combinations are checked against WCAG contrast requirements.
- Keyboard and Screen Reader Support
- The site works with a keyboard alone, includes a skip link, uses one clear heading structure per page, and describes images for screen readers.
- Respect for Motion Preferences
- If your device is set to reduce motion, the site honors that setting.
Reading Settings
The Aa button in the site header opens Reading Settings, where you can choose larger text or more spacing between letters, words, and lines. Your choice is saved on your device and applies across the whole site.
We offer these two adjustments because they are the ones research supports. Special “dyslexia fonts” have not held up in controlled studies, so we focus on what does help: size, spacing, and short lines.
Our Standard
This site aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA. Accessibility is ongoing work rather than a finished state, and we review the site against that target as it changes.
If something on this site is hard to read, hard to operate, or does not work with your assistive technology, please tell us. It will be fixed.
Report an Accessibility Barrier