Elearning and diversity issues - which type face and font size?

[Sarah West]

We currently use Verdana 10 as the default for content within elearning modules (produced using Seminar), however I have been asked to find out about best practice type face and font sizes from a diversity perspective.

 

The suggestion from our diversity team is Arial 12 - because this is expected to work best with zoom text software and therefore improves accessibility by learners with visual impairment. But in L&D we are not happy with the 'look' of Arial 12 in our training modules.

 

Has anyone got any experiences or guidelines in this area?

 

This is my first ever post - thanks in advance for your replies!!

[Mike Collins]

Hi Sarah,

We also use Arial as standard font within our training materials including our self managed learning (PPT with action buttons - sorry but this is all we have in the absence of any rapid tool). I have been following the below blog for sometime and you might find the below posts interesting. Not particulaly focussed on diversity issues but interesting all the same.

http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/heres-how-to-add-personal...


http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/how-fonts-take-a-starring...

Mike

[Sarah West]

Thank you both, Dave and Mike.

Dave, you are obviously more adept at searching on line than I am - the information you directed me to was very useful, and I will certainly explore the option of more learner control.

Mike, I have visited the articulate blog before and the articles you highlighted were indeed interesting.

I will marshal my thoughts and get back to our diversity team...

Thanks again,

Sarah

[Dave Ferguson]

This is an interesting question. I'm not an expert in this area, so I'll admit that my initial thought was that it's not a matter of a specific typeface. To me, the differences between two sans-serif fonts are probably minor.

But, alas, I don't know everything. So I went searching, and found if not some answers at least some additional information. Creating Accessible Computer Applications, at the American Foundation for the Blind, lists a number of resources, including these Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines from the WorldWide Web Consortium.

That latter set of guidelines urges people developing web pages to use cascading style sheets (CSS) to control font size, color, and so forth, rather than direct HTML markup. You'll sometimes find web pages with a font-size button (smaller, medium larger, for instance); usually these buttons change the applicable style sheet.

That's by way of wondering whether specific authoring tools (like Seminar) support a similar approach. While it makes lots of sense to use as a default an effective font (or font family), size, and color, the idea of learner control suggests that we enable learners to choose for themselves.