OMANTEL MAQROO – THE FIRST ARABIC DYSLEXIC FONT

Arabic is one of the most complex languages in the world and even more complex for the 86.4 million people in the region with learning and reading disability. Omantel, the national telecom of Oman has always believed in simplifying communication for everyone. So, on International Day of People of Determination, Omantel was clear in its stand of making Arabic inclusive for everyone.  

We created the first Arabic dyslexic-friendly font – Maqroo (meaning: readable). It was important to understand how they perceive the fonts so, we worked with the Arabic typeface designers from across the region and analyzed all 650 Arabic fonts with the dyslexic community to track their reading and stress levels. We increased the size of noqat (dots) and tashkeel (glyphs) by 200% and designed each letter to be distinctively recognizable through their irregularities. The font was coded to increase the heights of the letters and made the inner spaces irregular for better readability.