Dyslex-Kriyah: Developing a Dyslexia-Friendly Hebrew Font to Support Literacy in American Hebrew Readers

Jacob Shoag

Abstract


This paper presents the development and randomized evaluation of Dyslex-Kriyah, a dyslexia-friendly Hebrew font designed specifically to improve literacy in American Hebrew readers. While dyslexia interventions have received substantial attention in English-language contexts, there is a lack of accessible, language-specific resources for Hebrew readers, especially for learners in diaspora communities. Drawing on design principles established in English dyslexia-friendly fonts, Dyslex-Kriyah features modifications such as heavier baselines, wider spacing, and more distinctive letter shapes tailored to the Hebrew alphabet. To test the font’s effectiveness, this study conducted a randomized controlled experiment with over 230 participants, comparing reading accuracy and speed between Dyslex-Kriyah and a standard Hebrew font. Results show modest improvements in reading performance, particularly among participants with a self-reported dyslexia diagnosis. While average effects were small and not always statistically significant, evidence suggests that the font benefits a subset of users and may be especially helpful as an optional intervention.


Keywords


Dyslexia, Dyslexia-friendly font, Hebrew, Literacy, Dyslexia-intervention

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.13n.3p.65

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