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The Dash: What makes a font really suck?

This week's Dash includes dissecting what makes a font bad, usability test documents, and building an accessibility library.

This is the published edition of our weekly UX writer and UX writing newsletter, The Dash. Sign up to The Dash to have these updates sent straight to your inbox!

So, what makes a font really suck? We should start by looking at what actually makes a font easy to read and accessible for comparison. This week, we’ve rounded up a few more resources on accessibility, usability, and inclusivity. Wield your words well.

What makes a font really suck? If you ask 10 people, you’ll probably get 10 different answers. In the spirit of helping us all aim for improvement, rather than perfection, Lizzie Bruce offers up a few observations on good, accessible fonts for Gather Content.

Will AR create better convos? Between last week’s Apple announcement and this week’s New York Times interview with Tim Cook, we think it’s safe to say that AR is closer than you think. Read on to see how the next wave of tech could be used to enhance conversations and much more.

Balance strategy and tactics. Find yourself stuck on a tactical treadmill? Are you spending most of your time executing and not thinking big picture? In this great piece, Ryan Bigge shares how to balance strategy and tactics as a content designer.

You can usability test documents, too. Straight facts. In this Zoom session hosted by Dr. Ginny Redish, you’ll learn three techniques for quick ways to test a document’s usability. More info from Digital.gov.

Training on rotation. Heads-up! Hubspot launched an exciting new rotational UX training program for folks based in the US and Ireland. The Associate UX (AUX) Rotational Program is made up of 3 six-month rotations—giving aspiring UXers the chance to work alongside a product team as a full-time employee. Huge opportunity! But don’t wait—the deadline to apply is April 14. 

Always. Be. Converting! How can you apply content design principles to create useful content that converts? In this post, Clare Reucroft for Content Design London explores the difference between push versus pull content.

Building an accessibility library. How can you address accessibility problems ASAP and even create genuinely inclusive experiences from the very beginning? See how the team at Indeed built their own tool to speed up the process—and get your hands on the Figma file to bring back to your org. Thanks to Stephanie Hagadorn from Indeed for this one.

Using mental shortcuts for good. Our brains use shortcuts to get through the day. Sometimes they’re helpful, sometimes they’re… not. Join David Dylan Thomas for an important conversation on how we can eliminate the impact of harmful biases in our content. Happening at the ConveyUX event.


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