Sans serif typeface's long associationw ith blind people and accessibility

[kestrell]

Kes: Wikipedia has a good article on sans serif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-serif_font
which includes some great links re sans serif's long association with blind people and accessibility (I'm including the definition for those who may not be clear on what sans serif means).

block quote start
In typography, a sans-serif or sans serif typeface is one that does not have the small features called 'serifs" [projecting outward] at the end of strokes. The term comes from the Latin word for "sign," via the French word sans meaning "without."

....In 1786, a rounded sans-serif font was developed by
Valentin Haüy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Ha%C3%BCy
[who established the first school for the blind]
first appeared in the book titled "Essai sur l'éducation des aveugles" (An Essay on the Education of the Blind).
The purpose of this font was to be invisible and address accessibility. It was designed to emboss paper and allow the blind to read with their fingers. The design was eventually known as Haüy type.
block quote end

To read more about this first tactile book produced for blind people, go to
http://www.aph.org/museum/first_book.html
and this Web page includes descriptions of a number of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century blind people who developed their own writing systems
http://www.brailler.com/braillehx.htm
For more on personal preference in typography, check out this excellent article which is part of a series on typography
http://www.tomontheweb2.ca/CMX/17109/
For more on sans serif typefaces, go to
http://www.linotype.com/en/795/thesansseriftypefaces.html?PHPSESSID=1786212ba18e51adcb690e2292301f97

Comments

Yes indeedy

[jesse_the_k]

As you may known, the UK's Royal National Institute for the Blind commissioned an "access" typeface called Tiresias. It was initially designed as subtitles (=captions) for low vision viewers. It's a sans serif, similar to Lucida Sans, but the designers made a particular point of generous counters (internal white space) to ensure legibility for low-vision readers. Here's the blurb from the Bitstream website:

begin quote 
Tiresias was designed for subtitling by Dr. John Gill from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), in the United Kingdom.

The Tiresias font is designed to have characters that are easy to distinguish from each other, especially important for the visually impaired. The following key factors were considered during the design process: character shapes, relative weight of character stokes, intercharacter spacing, and aspect ratios that affect the maximum size at which the type could be used. The benefits of the Tiresias font are greatest on lower resolution displays, such as televisions, train and airline information terminals, and low resolution displays on wireless communication and handheld devices.

InfoFont is for printed instructions on public terminals where legibility is the primary consideration; these instructions are often read at a distance of 30 to 70 cm. Infofont is not designed for large quantities of text.

The Tiresias LPfont is a large print typeface specifically designed for people with low vision. Large print publications should be designed to specifically help with reading problems, and should not just be an enlarged version of the ordinary print. The Tiresias LPfont family, made up of roman, italic, and bold weights, was designed to address and solve these issues.

The RNIB developed PCfont for people with low vision to use on computer screens. It is designed for use at larger sizes only. PCfont includes delta hinting technology in the font to ensure pixel-perfect display at key sizes.

Signfont is for fixed (not internally illuminated) signage. The recommended usage is white or yellow characters on a matt dark background.

Note that the “Z” versions have slashed zeroes, and are identical in all other respects. quote ends

One can download Tiresias here:
http://www.tiresias.org/fonts/fonts_download.htm
for free under the GNU Public License

The Tiresias site disseminates the work of the RNIB's "Digital Accessibility Team." It carries a last-change date of 11/2009 and a promise of an ongoing reorg.

Re: Yes indeedy

[kestrell]

Hi, Jesse! Thanks for the great info you posted both on this subject and re blind artists (information, yum!).

I always forget but want to make a note while I am thinking of it: what are the best fonts for printing out large print items such as con programs?
I'm off to Arisia today for the tactile tour of the art show, hurray!

Stay warm, and here's a roll of virtual duct tape to use on that inner critic.