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Apple Books and dyslexia - fonts, display settings, and what helps
Apple Books has a more capable display panel than most readers expect, with eight or nine font choices and four background colours. What it does not have is OpenDyslexic, Lexend, or Atkinson Hyperlegible - the three fonts dyslexic readers are most often pointed towards. This guide covers what you can actually change, which settings matter most, and what to do when the font list runs out of road.
Finding the display settings
On iPhone and iPad, tap anywhere in the middle of the page while reading to reveal the toolbar, then tap the "Aa" button at the top right. On Mac, go to View in the menu bar and select Show Reading Controls, or use the keyboard shortcut Command+Shift+F. The panel gives you font, size, line spacing, brightness, and background colour in one place.
Most dyslexic Apple Books readers have visited this panel at least once. The problem is usually that they picked a slightly larger font size, noticed no dramatic improvement, and stopped exploring. The settings that make the biggest difference - background colour, line spacing, and font choice in combination - are rarely changed together, and they need to be.
The fonts Apple Books offers
The exact font list varies slightly by iOS version, but Apple Books on iOS 16 and later typically includes: the Original font embedded in the ebook, Athelas, Charter, Georgia, Iowan Old Style, Palatino, San Francisco, Seravek, and Times New Roman. On macOS the list is similar. None of these are purpose-built for dyslexia, but some are meaningfully better than others.
Seravek - the best starting point for most dyslexic readers
Seravek is a humanist sans-serif - the same broad category as Lexend, though a different design. It has generous letter spacing by default, a tall x-height (lower-case letters are large relative to capitals), and well-differentiated letter shapes. The lower-case a uses the simpler single-storey form that many dyslexic readers find easier to recognise, and the descenders on g, j, p, q and y are clear and long. It will not match the targeted engineering of a purpose-built dyslexia font, but within the Apple Books font list it is the closest option for readers who struggle with letter confusion.
Georgia - the best serif option
Georgia was designed in 1993 specifically for readability on low-resolution screens, which makes it still very good on modern displays. Its x-height is large for a serif, the counters are open, and the letterforms are rounded rather than angular. For readers who prefer serifs and find the baseline guidance of horizontal strokes helps them track across the line, Georgia is the most reliable pick from the Apple Books serif list. Athelas and Palatino are also decent serifs; both have a classical elegance that works well in long-form reading but slightly finer strokes than Georgia.
The broader serif vs sans-serif debate for dyslexic readers has no universal answer. Research is genuinely split. A practical way to test it: read one chapter in Seravek and one in Georgia at matched sizes, and notice which one feels easier at the thirty-minute mark. For more on the evidence, see our companion piece on serif vs sans-serif for dyslexic readers.
San Francisco - functional, not optimised
San Francisco is Apple's system UI font and it does its intended job - legible text in interfaces and short labels - very well. For long-form reading it is less ideal. It has a medium x-height and decent spacing, but it was not drawn for book-length text and it lacks the warmth that helps many readers sustain attention through a novel. It is fine; it is just not the best thing in the menu.
The original font - worth checking before dismissing
Many epub files are published with a specific font embedded or specified in their CSS. If you are reading a book from a publisher who invests in accessibility - several UK and US academic publishers do - the Original setting might already use a dyslexia-friendly font or at minimum a well-spaced humanist face. Open any book, set the font to Original, and check which typeface is actually rendering. If it looks clearly better than the Apple alternatives, stay with it. If it is a condensed or thin font, the app's alternatives will beat it immediately.
The settings that matter more than the font
Apple Books gives you font choice, but the same principle that applies to Kindle applies here: the layout settings have a larger effect on reading comfort than the typeface. Change these before you spend time debating Seravek versus Georgia.
Font size
The font size slider in Apple Books has sixteen steps. Most dyslexic adults are most comfortable somewhere in the upper third of that range - roughly equivalent to 16-20pt. The default is usually around step 5 or 6, which is fine for readers without visual processing difficulties but frequently too small for dyslexic readers. A larger font reduces letter crowding, which is one of the most consistent environmental factors in dyslexic reading difficulty. See the full reasoning in our best font size for dyslexic adults guide.
Line spacing
Apple Books offers a three-position line spacing slider. Move it to the maximum. The single most common complaint dyslexic readers make about ebook reading - "I keep re-reading the same line" or "my eye jumps to the wrong line" - is directly related to insufficient line spacing. Tighter lines force the eye to work harder to find the correct next line after each return sweep. On an iPad at a comfortable font size with maximum line spacing, most readers will immediately notice that their eye travels more naturally. The evidence for this is discussed in detail in our article on line and letter spacing for dyslexia.
Background colour
This is the most under-used setting in Apple Books. There are four options: white, sepia, grey, and black. For dyslexic readers who also experience visual stress - the glare, shimmer, or distortion that some people notice on high-contrast black-on-white text - switching to sepia is often transformative.
The sepia setting in Apple Books corresponds broadly to the cream or buff paper used in dyslexia-friendly printed books. Several publishers and educators who produce materials for dyslexic readers use exactly this shade for the same reason. For the research behind background colour choices, see background colours for dyslexia - cream, blue, or grey?
Bold text
Apple Books does not have its own bold weight slider (unlike Kindle), but iOS has a system-level Bold Text setting under Settings, Accessibility, Display and Text Size. When you enable Bold Text, Apple Books will render text at a heavier weight for fonts that support it. Some readers find this makes individual letters more distinct; others find a heavier weight makes the page feel denser and harder to scan. It is worth a trial if you are not already using it. For the nuances of when boldness helps, see font weight and dyslexia - does bold actually help?
Scrolling vs page-turn
On iPhone and iPad, Apple Books offers a vertical scrolling mode in addition to the default page-turn animation. For dyslexic readers who find the visual disruption of a page flip mid-thought disorienting, switching to scrolling mode can help maintain flow. Access it via the "Aa" panel, then the icon that looks like a page with an arrow. Scrolling mode also prevents the situation where a mid-sentence page break causes the reader to lose their place on the new page - a very common complaint among dyslexic users.
iOS system accessibility settings that affect Apple Books
Several iOS settings interact with Apple Books in ways that are not obvious from within the app itself.
Display and Text Size (Settings, Accessibility): The "Larger Text" option under Accessibility scales Dynamic Type across the whole system, and Apple Books respects it. If you set a large preferred text size system-wide, Apple Books will open at a matching size. Bold Text applies similarly. The "Increase Contrast" toggle boosts text contrast slightly, which can help readers who find the default rendering too light.
Reduce White Point (Settings, Accessibility, Display and Text Size): This dims the maximum brightness of white - effectively a permanent slight dimming of white backgrounds. For readers who find pure white glaring even at the minimum brightness setting, this can be combined with the sepia background in Apple Books for a noticeably softer reading experience.
Colour filters (Settings, Accessibility, Display and Text Size, Colour Filters): Enabling colour filters with a warm colour overlay can approximate the tinted overlays used by optometrists for readers with Irlen syndrome or visual stress. It affects every app including Apple Books. This is a blunter instrument than a proper tinted overlay assessment but can be a useful experiment. We cover visual stress in more depth in Irlen syndrome and tinted overlays.
Speak Screen and Speak Selection (Settings, Accessibility, Spoken Content): Both work in Apple Books. Speak Screen (swipe down from the top with two fingers while in the app) will read the page aloud, with each word highlighted as it is spoken. For readers who use text-to-speech as a comprehension aid - following along with spoken audio rather than reading silently - this is built-in and surprisingly capable. The quality of the voice matters: the UK English voice "Daniel (Enhanced)" and the US English "Evan (Enhanced)" are noticeably more natural than the default voices. Download them in Settings, Accessibility, Spoken Content, Voices.
The OpenDyslexic gap
The honest limitation of Apple Books is that it does not support custom fonts. Unlike a Kobo device (which accepts any font you drop in a folder) or a PocketBook reader (the most flexible e-reader on the market for custom fonts), Apple Books will only show you its own curated list. OpenDyslexic, Lexend, and Atkinson Hyperlegible - the three fonts with the most consistent positive feedback from dyslexic readers - are not on that list and cannot be added to it through any supported route.
There is a workaround for people with technical patience: if you own the epub file outright (rather than borrowing it from a library via Libby, or buying a DRM-protected Apple Books purchase), you can edit the epub file using Calibre, embed your preferred font, and re-import it. This is beyond most readers' reasonable time investment and is not possible with most ebook purchases, which use DRM. It is mentioned here for completeness, not as a practical recommendation.
The practical implication: if you have found that OpenDyslexic, Lexend, or Atkinson Hyperlegible make a substantial difference to your reading comfort - and a meaningful number of dyslexic readers do - Apple Books will remain a compromise. The best of its fonts (Seravek, Georgia) are good reading fonts, but they are not engineered for dyslexia. This is the most significant gap compared to Kobo's font flexibility, discussed in our piece on Kobo vs Kindle for dyslexia.
Apple Books vs Kindle for dyslexic readers
| Apple Books | Kindle | |
|---|---|---|
| OpenDyslexic available? | No | Yes (built-in) |
| Font choices | 8-9 fonts | 10+ fonts |
| Custom font support | No (epub hack only) | No |
| Background colours | White, Sepia, Grey, Black | White, Sepia, Black (more on some models) |
| Bold weight control | System-level only | Bold Level slider (0-5) |
| Line spacing control | 3-position slider | 3-position slider |
| Scrolling view | Yes (iOS) | Yes (app only) |
| Text-to-speech | Via iOS Speak Screen | VoiceView (Kindle hardware) |
| Best font for dyslexia | Seravek or Georgia | OpenDyslexic or Bookerly |
| Best platform for dyslexia overall | Adequate with right settings | Better - has OpenDyslexic natively |
This comparison is not meant to push you off Apple Books if you are already embedded in that ecosystem - the convenience of books syncing across iPhone, iPad and Mac, combined with the system-level Speak Screen integration, makes it a genuinely useful reading environment. The point is simply that Kindle has a meaningful advantage specifically for dyslexic readers, in the form of OpenDyslexic. If font choice is the primary consideration, that matters.
The practical recipe for Apple Books
Open Apple Books, start any book, tap the "Aa" button, and set:
Font: Seravek (first choice) or Georgia (if you prefer serifs).
Size: Three or four steps above the default - roughly 16-18pt.
Line spacing: Maximum (rightmost position).
Background: Sepia if you experience glare or visual stress; White if you do not.
Brightness: Lower than you think you need - eyes adapt downward, and a too-bright screen causes fatigue faster than a slightly dim one.
Scrolling: On (via the scroll icon in the Aa panel on iPhone/iPad).
Then go to Settings, Accessibility, Display and Text Size, and enable Bold Text if you have not already. Read for thirty minutes. That is long enough for fatigue or comfort to surface.
For the reading you do outside Apple Books
Apple Books only controls the reading experience within the app. The news article you read at lunch, the work document you received by email, the product description you are trying to parse before a purchase - all of that still renders in whatever font the website chose. For everything outside Apple Books, a browser font override is the practical equivalent of what Apple Books does natively, extended to the entire web.
That is what LexiFont is designed for: a Chrome extension that applies your chosen font - including OpenDyslexic, the one Apple Books does not have - to every website automatically. If you have worked out that Seravek-style letter spacing helps you in Apple Books but wish you could apply OpenDyslexic to everything else, the free tier of LexiFont ships with OpenDyslexic ready to go. LexiFont Pro adds Lexend, Atkinson Hyperlegible and Comic Neue, plus per-site font customisation, as a one-time payment.
Further reading
- Kindle fonts for dyslexia - Bookerly, OpenDyslexic and beyond
- Kobo vs Kindle for dyslexia - which e-reader wins on font flexibility?
- Best fonts for dyslexia in 2026 - a research-first guide
- Background colours for dyslexia - cream, blue, or grey?
- Irlen syndrome and tinted overlays - what the evidence says