Dyslexia, ADHD and autism: making AI documents easier to read

Why we wrote this page

We wrote this page because the question we kept asking, "which font makes AI text easier to read?", turned out to be the wrong question.

One Clear Reader exists because its founder is a visual reader, and walls of asterisks and pound signs make the founder's brain slide right off the page. So when we built reading settings for dyslexic, ADHD and autistic readers, we started by asking people what worked for them, what helped, and how it helped.

One name came up again and again: OpenDyslexic, the free font with heavy, weighted letters. It was the obvious place to start. Then we read the research, and it kept pointing the same way. OpenDyslexic doesn't reliably help people read faster or more accurately.

What did keep helping was less glamorous: more space, bigger text, shorter lines, a calmer page and one thing at a time. That is what this page is about.

we went looking for a magic font. we found spacing.

Does OpenDyslexic help people with dyslexia read?

OpenDyslexic does not reliably help people with dyslexia read faster or more accurately, according to the studies that have tested it. It's still fine to use if it feels better to you.

Here is what the research says:

• OpenDyslexic compared with ordinary fonts. A 2016 study compared OpenDyslexic with Arial and Times New Roman for students with dyslexia. It found no improvement in reading rate or accuracy, and none of the students said they preferred it (Wery and Diliberto, Annals of Dyslexia).
• All the dyslexia-font studies together. A 2026 review pooled 15 studies of OpenDyslexic and Dyslexie. It found these fonts "have no consistent or reliable effect" on reading speed or accuracy (Azzarello and others, Annals of Dyslexia).
• What dyslexia experts advise. The International Dyslexia Association points to the same studies, and adds that there's no harm in using these fonts as long as they don't replace proven help (IDA).

So comfort still counts. If OpenDyslexic makes reading feel calmer for you, that matters, and you are the only one who can judge it. Just don't expect a font on its own to fix a wall of text.

What actually makes a page easier to read with dyslexia?

Extra space between letters and lines, larger text, shorter lines and a soft background make a page easier to read with dyslexia, and the evidence for these is stronger than for any special font.

• Space between letters. In a study of Italian and French children with dyslexia, extra-large letter spacing improved reading straight away, with no training (Zorzi and others, PNAS). It's one study, so treat it as a strong hint rather than a promise.
• Size and line spacing. The British Dyslexia Association suggests text around 16 to 19 pixels on screen and line spacing of about 1.5 (BDA Dyslexia Style Guide 2023).
• Shorter lines. The same guide recommends 60 to 70 characters a line. Long lines make it easy to lose your place when your eyes jump back to the left.
• A softer background. It recommends dark text on cream or a soft pastel instead of bright white.
• Fewer tricks. Avoid italics, underlining and long runs of capitals. Use bullet points instead of dense paragraphs.

Atkinson Hyperlegible is a good font to try. The Braille Institute designed it for readers with low vision, with letters that are hard to mix up, such as a capital I, a lowercase l and the number 1. It's free (Braille Institute). It wasn't made for dyslexia, and the Braille Institute doesn't claim it helps dyslexia. Many people who find ordinary fonts tiring like it anyway.

What helps ADHD and autistic readers with long AI documents?

ADHD and autistic readers often find long AI documents easier when there is less on screen at once, a predictable layout, calm colors and plain, direct sentences.

There is far less research on this than on dyslexia fonts, so we lean on published design guidance and on what readers describe. The UK Home Office's accessibility guidance for autistic users says to use simple colors, plain English, simple sentences and bullets, and simple, consistent layouts. It says to avoid bright contrasting colors, figures of speech, walls of text and cluttered layouts (GOV.UK accessibility blog, 2016). The same guidance for dyslexic users adds: keep content short, don't put too much in one place, and let people change the contrast.

Readers with ADHD describe a different problem: the next paragraph keeps pulling your eyes away from this one. What they say helps:

• See the shape first. Read only the headings, then jump to the part you need.
• One paragraph at a time. Hide or dim the rest of the page while you read.
• Nothing else on screen. Full screen, no Dock, no other windows.
• Shorter answers in the first place. Ask the AI for a summary first and the detail only when you want it. The prompt further down does this.

How we researched this

We combined published research, what people say in their own words, and what readers told us, then turned the results into default settings you can change.

1. We read the studies. We looked for research that measured reading speed and accuracy, not just preference. The main sources are listed above, with their dates. Most of the font research is on children and young people with dyslexia, which is a limit worth knowing.
2. We read how people describe reading on screen. In September 2026 we read public posts in developer, AI-tool and Mac forums where people talk about reading with dyslexia or ADHD. They talked about fonts, eye strain, "walls of text", "visual clutter" and needing to "rest my eyes". Nobody asked for a new file format. They asked for less on the page.
3. We asked readers what worked. What helped, and how. OpenDyslexic came up often. Spacing, size and fewer things on screen came up as what made the difference.
4. We turned it into defaults, with a reason for each. This table shows the choices behind One Clear Reader's free Neuro-friendly reading profile.

The honest limit: these are sensible starting points backed by guidance and small studies. They are not a treatment, and they won't suit everyone. That's why every one of them can be changed.

What we're testing now

We're testing whether these defaults suit most people, or whether most people change them. And we can only learn that one way.

One Clear Reader has no analytics. We don't track what you open, read or change, so we can't see which settings you use. The only way we learn is if you tell us.

These are the questions we most want answered:

• Does the Neuro-friendly profile feel right, or do you change it straight away? What do you change?
• Would you use OpenDyslexic if it were in the font list, even knowing the research?
• Does Paragraph Focus help, or does it feel too restrictive?
• Do you read better on a cream page, a dark page, or something else?
• For autistic readers: are the themes too colorful? Would a plainer, low-color theme help?
• What still makes AI documents hard for you, that no setting fixes yet?

How do I make the page fit me exactly?

Change one setting at a time, read for a few minutes, and keep what feels calmer. This table matches common problems to the setting that fixes them in One Clear Reader. Everything marked Free works in the free version.

If a color you choose would be hard to read against the page, One Clear Reader warns you, and text below a 3:1 contrast is shown in a readable color instead. Changing the look never changes the .md file itself, so your AI still reads the same file.

OpenDyslexic is not in One Clear Reader's font list today. If you need it now, install it on your Mac from opendyslexic.org and read .md files in an app that lets you pick any installed font, such as VS Code's Markdown preview. And please tell us, because it's one of the things we're deciding.

How do I make the rest of my Mac easier to read?

macOS has free reading tools that work across your apps, including Accessibility Reader, read aloud and Display settings.

• Accessibility Reader (macOS 26 and later). Opens the text from the app you're in, in its own view, with your font, size, colors and spacing, and can read it aloud. Turn it on in System Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak, then press ⌘Esc in any app (Apple Support).
• Read selected text aloud. Select text and press ⌥Esc. Turn it on under System Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak, called Spoken Content on older macOS versions (Apple Support). Listening while you follow the words helps when your eyes are done.
• Display settings. In System Settings › Accessibility › Display you can make text larger, reduce transparency behind windows, increase contrast, or tint the whole screen (Apple Support).

let the Mac do the reading. rest your eyes.

How do I stop Claude or ChatGPT sending me walls of text?

Tell Claude or ChatGPT how you want answers shaped. A short, structured answer is easier to read than any setting can make a long one.

Paste this into the standing instructions of Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, or at the start of a chat:

I read more easily with short, structured answers. Please:
- Start with a 2-sentence summary.
- Use short sections with clear headings.
- Keep paragraphs to 3 sentences or fewer.
- Use bullet points for lists of more than 3 things.
- Use a table for any comparison.
- Use plain, literal language. No idioms or figures of speech.
- Bold only the one key term per section.
- No emojis. No italics.
- End with 3 or fewer next steps as a checklist.
If the answer would be long, give me the summary first and ask if I want the rest.

This is what the same answer looks like after the prompt. The top shows the raw .md file, and the bottom shows it formatted.

## Summary
Pick **shared hosting** if you expect under 10,000 visits a month. Move up only when the site feels slow.

## Your options
| Plan | Good for | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Shared | Small sites | Low |
| VPS | Growing sites | Medium |
| Managed cloud | Busy sites | Low, costs more |

## Next steps
- [ ] Check last month's visits
- [ ] Pick a plan from the table
- [ ] Ask me about moving later

The last line of the prompt, "give me the summary first", is the one that helps most on bad days. You get the answer, and the detail only if you ask. For more ways to turn AI output into shapes you can see, read reading AI documents when you think in pictures.

Tell us what works for you

Tell us what works for you and what doesn't. We want to know, so we can make this better for you and for the next person.

Email [email protected] with "Reading comfort" in the subject. A person reads every message. It helps most if you tell us:

• What makes AI documents hard for you (dyslexia, ADHD, autism, tired eyes, anything else, or you'd rather not say)
• The profile or settings you use now, and what you changed from the default
• What helped, and how it helped
• What still doesn't work
• Whether you'd use OpenDyslexic or another font we don't include

We'll update this page with what we learn, and date each change. You'll find the reading settings explained step by step on the reading comfort help page, and more on opening AI files in how to open a .md file on a Mac.

Questions people ask