6 typography mistakes

Don’t make these 6 typography mistakes in your content.

Chances are: you’re probably making at least 3 of them. 

How do I know? Because I see it every day, on 99% of the websites, apps, dashboards I audit, emails I receive, social media posts I read, adverts I’m targeted by.

How to increase your potential audience by 25%

By making these typography mistakes, you exclude around 25% of your audience. 

Who is in that 25%? People who need your content to be accessible in order to understand it. Yeah I know, that’s basically everyone: because accessibility is essential for some, but useful for all. 

However, while I may find your non-accessible typography simply annoying, people in these categories may find it impossible to access it:

People with visual disabilities ¹

People who are deaf or hard of hearing ²

People with cognitive disabilities ³

People with mobility disabilities ⁴

People who are neuro-divergent

Not even an exhaustive list. 

In case you think you don’t know anyone who belongs in that list, or that they won’t read your posts or buy your stuff: you know me, so that’s one already.

The good news is: by correcting these type mistakes, you’ll be turning the exclusion right on its head – potentially expanding your audience by roughly 25%! That’s the rough estimate of the people reading your content that are affected by typography mistakes one way or another.

So let’s go and sort them out.

The 6 mistakes

Please don’t make the following typography mistakes when you create any kind of content:

1️⃣ Don’t use colour in your text without checking for contrast. Bad contrast means illegible.

2️⃣ Don’t use fancy fonts. They present legibility issues for people with dyslexia, just for starters (1 in 4 people roughly). On LinkedIn, they can’t be read by screen readers.

3️⃣ Don’t use all caps (or use sparingly). Most screen readers parse them as acronyms. They are hard to read for dyslexic people, and to me you are shouting. 

4️⃣ Don’t use text on a busy background image. I won’t be able to read it. Make up your mind: do you want me to see the image or read the text? 

5️⃣ On websites, don’t use headings to style text. They are meant to structure your content, essential for SEO, and vital for screen readers. Use headings properly Opens in new window and don’t skip them.

6️⃣ Don’t centre your text. Please align left (if using a left-to-right language). Ragged lines make it difficult for the eye to anchor, plus I see shapes in your centred text block. Also it’s messy and ugly and should only ever be used in wedding invitations. 

Recapping

1. Check colour contrast

2. No fancy fonts

3. No all caps

4. No text on image

5. Use headings to structure content

6. Is it a wedding invitation? No? Then do not centre it. 

Do this, and see your reach and conversions dramatically improve.

How do I know? Because I have done 100s of audits and I’ve seen it happen in real time.

And also, because these typography mistakes all affect accessibility: fixing accessibility mistakes will open up your audience by as much as 25%. Opens in new window

Want to have a chat about it? Book a meeting with me Opens in new windowand let’s talk.

Notes

1. People with Visual Disabilities ↩︎
2. People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing ↩︎
3. People with Cognitive Disabilities ↩︎
4. People with Mobility/Motor/Dexterity Disabilities ↩︎