Dyslexia Friendly Mode and The ick App

“The one argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people’s lives.

How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better?”  

― Steve Krug

When we started building ick, we knew we wanted it to be a genuinely enjoyable place to read, write, and edit. That meant designing an experience that feels comfortable and accessible for anyone using it.

At the time, Sophie and I were working with Consent Kit through our agency, maassive. Seeing how naturally they integrated accessibility features made us realize how many apps and websites miss the mark. Dyslexia Friendly Mode became one of those features we couldn’t imagine leaving out. That is what inspired us to make it a focus when building ick (thanks, Ben).

Implementing Dyslexia Friendly Mode was surprisingly straightforward. It was no more complicated than setting up Lightbox Mode, so adding it felt like an obvious choice.

Making ick more accessible benefits everyone who uses the app, even those who don’t think they need it.

At the end of this post, you’ll find the code we used for Dyslexia Friendly Mode so you can share it with others or suggest it to teams building their own tools. And if you want to try some of the features of it - hit the toggle on our website and see if it works for you.

Accessibility is for everyone, and it’s easier than you think.

What is Dyslexia Friendly Mode?

Even we were surprised to learn that, according to the British Dyslexia. Association, dyslexia affects about one in ten people in the UK. Our more extensive research also suggested that it affects around 30% of entrepreneurs! Dyslexia makes text and layouts challenging to read. Bright white backgrounds can feel harsh, and letters may appear jumbled. The Dyslexia Friendly Mode in ick is designed to improve readability for those with dyslexia or anyone who experiences similar challenges. You don’t have to be dyslexic to find the mode helpful.

How Dyslexia Friendly Mode Works in ick

When turned on, it changes the background to a light grey to reduce glare, adjusts the spacing between letters (by approximately a third of each letter’s size), and increases inter-word spacing to make text easier to read.

As we already use a font that borrows from Arial - one of the most reader friendly fonts out there, we don’t need to swap it out. But if you’re looking at this mode for your projects, check the guidelines.

Here’s what changes in more detail:

• Typography: Letter spacing set to 5% and inter-word spacing is doubled.

• Line Spacing: Increased to 150%, making the text less cramped and easier to follow.

• Font Size: Set to a minimum of 16pt across screen sizes.

• Line Length: Between 8 to 12 words per line, following the British Dyslexia
  Association’s recommendations for optimal readability.

• Background Color: A soft grey replaces the standard white background, reducing brightness without sacrificing contrast. As standard, ick has an ‘almost white’ background, but Dyslexia Friendly mode darkens this in the editor.

These adjustments are subtle but impactful, and they align with principles designed to help dyslexic users while improving readability for everyone.

Customizing Your Experience

Accessibility is about choice, so we’ve made it easy to adjust your ick experience.
From the left-hand panel, you can:

• Toggle Dyslexia Friendly Mode for a more comfortable reading and writing experience.

• Combine Dyslexia Friendly Mode with other modes to make your experience more comfortable and custom.

• Save your preferences - ick remembers your settings, so you don’t have to reapply them every time.

Why Dyslexia Mode Matters

We didn’t add Dyslexia Friendly Mode to tick a box. We wanted ick to be a tool that anyone can use comfortably. Modes like this remind us that small, thoughtful changes can have a big impact. As developers, designers, and business owners, we are responsible for making tools that make our users feel confident.

Accessibility doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be intentional. We hope ick’s Dyslexia Mode inspires more creators to think about what small tweaks they can make to create a bigger impact.