Did You Know That Accessible Fonts Can Boost Your Website Traffic by 23%?

kmunn87
Sep 15
3 min read

the letter a in a clean font on a yellow background showing good accessibility

Did you know that 1 in 5 people have a reading difficulty, and your font choices could be accidentally excluding 20% of your potential audience.

Font accessibility means choosing fonts that everyone can read easily, including people with dyslexia, visual impairments, or reading difficulties.

Studies have shown that websites with higher accessibility scores experience an average increase of 23% in organic traffic. One key factor contributing to this boost is the use of accessible fonts, which enhance readability and user experience.

By choosing fonts that are clear, legible, and free from excessive decorative elements, you can significantly improve your website's usability. This not only benefits users with disabilities but also enhances the overall experience for all visitors, leading to increased engagement and conversions.

WHY FONT ACCESSIBILITY MATTERS

Did you know that:

10% of people have dyslexia
8% have some form of colour blindness
285 million people worldwide have visual impairments
Accessible websites get 25% more traffic (because they rank better in search)

THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND READABLE FONTS

Accessible fonts reduce cognitive load, this is the mental effort needed to process information. When fonts are hard to read, people's brains work overtime just to decode the letters, leaving less mental energy for understanding your message.

Research from the Journal of Vision shows that accessible fonts increase reading speed by 35% and comprehension by 42%.

QUICK FONT ACCESSIBILITY TIPS

✓ Use Sans-Serif Fonts: Arial, Verdana, and Calibri are more accessible than decorative fonts

✓ Minimum 16px Font Size: Smaller strains eyes and excludes people with visual impairments

✓ Use a High Color Contrast: Make sure your text stands out from the background. You can test your contrast ratio here.

✓ Use Proper Line Spacing: 1.5x line height improves readability for everyone, especially people with dyslexia

✓ Limit Italics: Italic text is harder for people with dyslexia to read

✓ Limit the number of fonts you use: Stick to two fonts, one for your heading and one for your body text.

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR ACCESSIBLE FONTS

Whilst its best practice to accomodate everyone and be inclusive, these things actually have an impact directly on your business:

Better SEO rankings: Google prioritises accessible websites, so more people will see your website.
Increased time on site: people stay longer when content is easy to read.
Higher conversion rates: accessible design converts 67% better (conversion rate is the number of users performing the desired action on your website like purchasing something or hitting contact)
Reduced bounce rates: visitors don't leave immediately if they can actually read your content.

QUICK ACCESSIBILITY CHECK

Test your current fonts:

Squint test: can you still read your text when squinting?
Phone test: is your text readable on a small mobile screen?
Contrast test: use WebAIM's contrast checker tool
Speed test: can someone quickly scan and understand your homepage?

COMMON FONT ACCESSIBILITY MISTAKES

❌ Decorative fonts for body text: Just dont. They are too hard to read.

❌ Light gray text: Fails contrast requirements and strains eyes

❌ Tiny footer text: Important legal info should be readable too

❌ White text on coloured background: Often fails contrast tests

❌ Multiple font styles: Creates visual chaos and cognitive overload

YOUR FONT ACCESSIBILITY ACTION PLAN

Audit your current fonts: check size, contrast, and readability
Choose one accessible font pair: one for headers, one for body text
Test contrast ratios: use online tools to ensure proper contrast
Ask for feedback: ask your mum if she can read your website

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katie Di Feliciantonio at Made by Katie the author

Written by Katie Di Feliciantonio at Made by Katie, a Surrey-based Wix and Squarespace web design studio.

I work with charities and small businesses, offering tailored packages to suit your needs: Mini Websites for a fast, affordable online presence, Bespoke Website Builds for a fully custom website, and Page Makeovers to refresh and optimise your existing site.