Inclusive Sans is a text font designed for accessibility and readability. It is inspired by the friendly personality of contemporary neo-grotesques while incorporating key features to make it highly legible in all uses.

While working on branding projects for disability non-for-profits and large government organisations, the topic of accessibility was always central to our work. The conversation and guidelines around accessibility in typography has largely centred on type sizes and colour contrasts 1. However research has shown that accessibility in type is crucial at a character level, where key features can enhance the readability of text for those who are hard of seeing or are neurodiverse.

Sophie Beier's book Reading Letters: Designing for Legibility, as well as Gareth Ford William's Guide, outlines key criteria for an accessible typeface. The trouble was finding typefaces that both fit the brief and the tone of the brand. While some typefaces were accessible because of their style (Comic Sans) and one or two had been created in the same spirit like FS Me, there were very few that felt right for a modern brand.

Having art directed many custom type projects for brands over the years, I decided to take up the challenge of making my own - one that was accessible, contemporary and available for everyone.

To meet the criteria as outlined in Beier's work, Inclusive Sans incorporates the following key features:

Clear distinction between I, l and 1
Non-mirroring of letters d, b, q and p
Distinction between O and 0
Wider, more open counter forms on c, o, a and e
A higher x-height for easier readability at small sizes
Wider default letter-spacing
Clear difference between capital height and ascender height

Inclusive Sans supports over 500 languages across the world. Living and working on Gadigal Country (Sydney, Australia) I also felt it was important to include support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. There are an additional 48 glyphs incorporated with the help of Vincent Chan (in consultation with Sasha Wilmouth from the University of Melbourne).

In 2022 the first version of Inclusive Sans was released on Google Fonts, with one regular weight and an italics. In 2025 a version 2.0 was released to include four additional weights, as well as a variable version.

Making Inclusive Sans has been a labour of love for over 3 years, and continues to be a project I love to work on whenever I have spare time. Special thanks to Troy Leinster for his coaching through Typemasters.