Can you love your neighbor… with fonts?

A few weeks ago a friend shared this research with me. The report has a lot of valuable information and I highly recommend taking the time to read through it. A key takeaway from the research is that for people over the age of 35 the EB Garamond font makes for the fastest read on screens (as in people over 35 averaged 100+ more words per minute than when reading Open Sans). This was interesting data for me because… well… I’m in the over 35 crowd and I read a lot of text on screens and so it matters to me. 

As Digital Ministry leaders it’s important to communicate our message clearly. Often this comes down to the words we choose, or the imagery we create, and the channels we use to get the message out. Today I want to challenge you to take some time and think about accessibility as a means for communicating clearly. Accessibility can be a complex issue but there are also some easy steps you can take to make sure your content is more accessible. 

To start learning about the subject you can take a look at governmental guidelines on web accessibility as it pertains to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) or if you are game for a more in depth read it is worth taking a look at Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Ensuring your content is accessible to all can be a complex challenge to solve. But awareness is the first step in the right direction, so as you are working on new content today, whether it’s writing, designing, or editing audio/video, I encourage you to take a few minutes to skim through the guidelines linked above and then revisit your content with a new perspective on how it will be consumed. 

Summary

Words Matter

We spend a lot of time choosing the best words to communicate our message, but communicating clearly doesn’t end with words.

Accessibility

One way to love our digital neighbors is by taking the time to make our content accessible to them. 

Get Started

To get started browse some accessibility guidelines. It will only take a few minutes to gain a new appreciation for the challenges our brothers and sisters face in consuming content.

Happy Communicating!