Susan Kirkland (bio)

Kudos to Editor Chris Dickman: Here's a free font that sucks. Recently, a new alphabet was designed to assist the visually impaired with readability. That segment of the population is growing due to the surge of baby boomers. Though I applaud their initiative, little information is available about how this font was developed, and it doesn't look like many typographers were involved. Almost every consideration in their approach is contrary to what I learned in all those typography classes at art school. APHont, designed by The American Printing House for the Blind, was specifically created for readers with vision problems. It incorporates consistent stroke widths and large punctuation marks. Designer Paul Nini says that APHont may not be an aesthetically pleasing typeface, but he thinks it’s a starting point for accommodating the needs of aging eyes. His article focused on signage, but the APHont alphabet was designed for reading text. There's a big difference between Braille and font design, just as there is between text and signage. Here's why I don't think it is the new font for readability. Mr. Nini is more subtle than I am—swoosh . . . whack!