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Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…
And it works!
Is Calibri actually more accessible? Every step of this story seems pointless and fake.
What is involved in changing the font for a government agency?
In 1941 Adolf Hitler personally gave order to make the use of the Antiqua mandatory and forbade the use of Fraktur and Schwabacher typefaces.
Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…
Only when used in a context where they can be confused. This is a situation where HN is going to give bad advice. Programmers care deeply about that stuff (i.e. "100l" is a long-valued integer literal in C and not the number 1001). Most people tend not to, and there is a long tradition of fonts being a little ambiguous in that space.
But yes, don't use Calibri in your editor.
Calibri font has "I" and "l" the same, according to Wikipedia. A better font should avoid characters being too similar (such as "I" and "l" and "1"). Another issue is due to the font size and font metrics, how much space it will take up on the page, to be small enough to avoid wasting paper and ink but also not too small to read. So, there are multiple issues in choosing the fonts; however, Times New Roman and Calibr…
They have, public sans, courtesy of USWDS, and it does distinguish between l and I with a little hook/spur on lowercase el
https://public-sans.digital.gov/
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Public+Sans?preview.text=1...
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If you had read the article, you would know the answer to this question. Calibri is a font designed to be easier to read on screens, which is where documents are primarily read in 2025. Switching to using Calibri as the default was a meaningful change that provided improved accessibility at literally no cost to anyone. Switching back to Times New Roman, a serif font that is provably more difficult to read on screens…
> If you had read the article
Please read the rules.
Is Calibri actually more accessible? Every step of this story seems pointless and fake.
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Performative? The one that you read about. The one that had a press release, the one that had articles on social media that you are commenting on. Meaningful? The one that looked into which font was more readable, for the most people
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But.... and this is important, it's not funny. "Here is a thing that makes a slight difference, with no cost, to a small percentage of people" "Nah, woke. Let's make it worse for them." There is nothing funny about performative cruelty
I'm with John Gruber, who is hardly a fan of this administration: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/12/10/state-departmen... "Calibri does convey a sense of casualness — and more so, modernity — that is not appropriate for the U.S. State Department. And I do not buy the argument that Calibri is somehow more accessible for those with low vision or reading disabilities. People with actual accessibility needs shoul…
Agreed.
So... why are the administration going in the opposite direction?
> Official departmental paperwork shouldn't look clownish.
Oh. It's about looking clownish. Right. OK. Pull up a chair, this might take a while, and we will get to typefaces pretty late on, I'll be honest