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After redesigning my website to use Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts, I switched my terminal and code editor to the monospace variant to properly test it. After a mo

After redesigning my website to use Atkinson Hyperlegible fonts, I switched my terminal and code editor to the monospace variant to properly test it. After a month of testing and positive experiences, I felt motivated to investigate further and write an article comparing Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono to JetBrains Mono and Fira Code. The visual comparisons use examples from an accessibility paper on homoglyphs and mirror glyphs. I chose JetBrains Mono and Fira Code as a baseline, since many developers use these fonts and find them familiar. While Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono excels at character distinction, nothing is perfect. I detail trade-offs in the "Caveats" section, below the installation instructions. I'm curious to hear others' experiences and thoughts. I'm fascinated by what role font choice plays in legibility and accessibility, but the research is relatively sparse in this area.

esafak 1y ago
I would link to the downloads in the opening paragraph. My impression is that while legible it is too fat. You'll notice that Fira Code and JetBrains Mono are similarly wide -- and narrower than Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono.
- maybebyte 1y ago
  Sure, I'll add it in. I'll post the links here as well just in case: https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mono https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mo... I'd recommend getting it from there rather than the Braille Institute's website since they require an email and EULA, but here's the other download link anyway. https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/ https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/ Also, Nerd Fonts added Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono in their v3.4.0 release. https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/tag/v3.4.0 https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/tag/v3.4.0 With Nerd Fonts, I'd recommend downloading both and setting up a fallback system through fontconfig though. Unfortunately, some versions (Nerd Fonts, official download) are still missing the backtick/grave glyph. https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mono/issues/3 https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mo...
- tracker1 1y ago
  I'm pretty much there with you. I tend to use Fira Code for the improved visibility, but really would prefer Consolas/Inconsolata, but there are a few character variations that I don't like as much and it's slightly harder to read (for me). I also have come to rely on the Nerd Fonts enhancements with my terminal prompt (Starship).
alienbaby 1y ago
I was hoping to see some comparisons of blocks of English text, and blocks of program code text, rather than just character by character. That would help me understand how it feels to read in arbitrary blocks, as well as appreciate specific design characteristics.
- jasperry 1y ago
  I agree. This is a very enlightening discussion of individual glyph features that affect readability. But the thing that hit me immediately is the difference in how expanded or condensed these fonts feel. Even though in the examples, the text width of JetBrains and Fira is identical, JetBrains "looks" condensed to the point of being harder to read. But I feel like Atkinson goes too far the other direction and is too expanded. When I read it, I feel like I'm tripping over the empty space between the characters, or I have to move my eyes too much to read one word.
- maybebyte 1y ago
  This is good feedback, thank you. When I wrote the article, I erred on the side of too few comparison images rather than too many. What would you recommend for comparison blocks? "The five boxing wizards jump quickly" and maybe a fizzbuzz? For what it's worth, I generated the comparison images with Harfbuzz and ImageMagick, so in theory I could publish the script and then anyone could make their own comparison images. Fair warning: it's a quick and dirty shell script, written only to get the job done.
- wentin 1y ago
  This might be of interest for you: https://www.codingfont.com/ https://www.codingfont.com/ I made it to select the perfect coding font. i will update it to include the Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono soon!
  - maybebyte 1y ago
    Hey, I'm a fan of your work. My font before this was Victor Mono, and I actually found it through your website. Do you publish the source code anywhere? I'd be interested to take a closer look at it.
ninetyninenine 1y ago
Character distinction isn't that important when reading english mainly because context automatically repairs any s1m1l4r1t1es b3tw33n w0rd5. Even numbers can be used the replace letters and it only slows down reading slightly. Leetspeak is only a worst case example. For example for b0Ok 0 and O causes virtually no pause.
- kybernetikos 1y ago
  But that's the exact reason why it's problematic in contexts where the exact character is important in a way not clear from context. Atkinson Hyperlegible is my favourite for reading passwords or urls with codes in them etc.
  - ninetyninenine 1y ago
    But how often is this needed in daily life? Why not just pick something that’s aesthetically pleasing based on personal preference rather than legibility because reading passwords doesn’t happen often at all imo? Additionally the legibility metric used by the site isn’t even quantitative. It’s qualitative and opinionated so it’s not like there was an objective measure that says Atkinson is in actuality more hyperlegible… the hyper legibility is an opinion.

esafak 1y ago

I would link to the downloads in the opening paragraph. My impression is that while legible it is too fat. You'll notice that Fira Code and JetBrains Mono are similarly wide -- and narrower than Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono.

maybebyte 1y ago
Sure, I'll add it in. I'll post the links here as well just in case: https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mono https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mo... I'd recommend getting it from there rather than the Braille Institute's website since they require an email and EULA, but here's the other download link anyway. https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/ https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/ Also, Nerd Fonts added Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono in their v3.4.0 release. https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/tag/v3.4.0 https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/tag/v3.4.0 With Nerd Fonts, I'd recommend downloading both and setting up a fallback system through fontconfig though. Unfortunately, some versions (Nerd Fonts, official download) are still missing the backtick/grave glyph. https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mono/issues/3 https://github.com/googlefonts/atkinson-hyperlegible-next-mo...
tracker1 1y ago
I'm pretty much there with you. I tend to use Fira Code for the improved visibility, but really would prefer Consolas/Inconsolata, but there are a few character variations that I don't like as much and it's slightly harder to read (for me). I also have come to rely on the Nerd Fonts enhancements with my terminal prompt (Starship).

alienbaby 1y ago

I was hoping to see some comparisons of blocks of English text, and blocks of program code text, rather than just character by character. That would help me understand how it feels to read in arbitrary blocks, as well as appreciate specific design characteristics.

jasperry 1y ago
I agree. This is a very enlightening discussion of individual glyph features that affect readability. But the thing that hit me immediately is the difference in how expanded or condensed these fonts feel. Even though in the examples, the text width of JetBrains and Fira is identical, JetBrains "looks" condensed to the point of being harder to read. But I feel like Atkinson goes too far the other direction and is too expanded. When I read it, I feel like I'm tripping over the empty space between the characters, or I have to move my eyes too much to read one word.
maybebyte 1y ago
This is good feedback, thank you. When I wrote the article, I erred on the side of too few comparison images rather than too many. What would you recommend for comparison blocks? "The five boxing wizards jump quickly" and maybe a fizzbuzz? For what it's worth, I generated the comparison images with Harfbuzz and ImageMagick, so in theory I could publish the script and then anyone could make their own comparison images. Fair warning: it's a quick and dirty shell script, written only to get the job done.
wentin 1y ago
This might be of interest for you: https://www.codingfont.com/ https://www.codingfont.com/ I made it to select the perfect coding font. i will update it to include the Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono soon!
- maybebyte 1y ago
  Hey, I'm a fan of your work. My font before this was Victor Mono, and I actually found it through your website. Do you publish the source code anywhere? I'd be interested to take a closer look at it.

ninetyninenine 1y ago

Character distinction isn't that important when reading english mainly because context automatically repairs any s1m1l4r1t1es b3tw33n w0rd5. Even numbers can be used the replace letters and it only slows down reading slightly. Leetspeak is only a worst case example. For example for b0Ok 0 and O causes virtually no pause.

kybernetikos 1y ago
But that's the exact reason why it's problematic in contexts where the exact character is important in a way not clear from context. Atkinson Hyperlegible is my favourite for reading passwords or urls with codes in them etc.
- ninetyninenine 1y ago
  But how often is this needed in daily life? Why not just pick something that’s aesthetically pleasing based on personal preference rather than legibility because reading passwords doesn’t happen often at all imo? Additionally the legibility metric used by the site isn’t even quantitative. It’s qualitative and opinionated so it’s not like there was an objective measure that says Atkinson is in actuality more hyperlegible… the hyper legibility is an opinion.