Blog · 6 min read · April 14, 2026

Lexend font in Chrome: the research behind faster reading

Lexend is the only mainstream font commissioned by a reading-research foundation. The claim — that Lexend improves reading proficiency — comes out of Bonnie Shaver-Troup's decades of work. Here's what the science actually shows, and how to use Lexend on every website you visit in Chrome.

Who designed Lexend and why

Lexend was drawn by type designer Thomas Jockin in collaboration with reading specialist Dr Bonnie Shaver-Troup. The core idea was to design a font around known reading-science principles: wide letter spacing, expanded horizontal proportions, and an even visual rhythm that reduces crowding effects.

What the research actually found

A 2019 study by Shaver-Troup and colleagues tested seven widths of Lexend on 2,684 students. Result: students reading in wider variants of Lexend (Lexend Deca, Mega, Giga) showed measurable reading-proficiency gains compared to a baseline. Notably, the effect was strongest for struggling readers, including many with dyslexia.

Two caveats worth knowing:

The study measured proficiency, not just speed. Speed alone isn't reading.
The font that worked best varied by reader. One student read faster in Lexend Deca; another in Lexend Mega. Having choice matters.

Lexend on every website with LexiFont

Lexend is available on Google Fonts, but that only helps on the handful of sites that load it. To read in Lexend everywhere (Gmail, Wikipedia, Medium, your company's intranet), you need a browser extension that swaps fonts at the CSS level.

Install LexiFont from the Chrome Web Store.
Start your free 7-day Pro trial (Lexend is part of the Pro tier — along with Atkinson Hyperlegible and Comic Neue).
Click the LexiFont icon and select Lexend.

Lexend is bundled directly in the extension under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, so it works on every site instantly without loading anything external.

Recommended settings for Lexend

Font size: 1.0×. Lexend is already generously proportioned.
Line height: 1.6–1.7 works well.
Letter spacing: 0. Lexend has reading-friendly tracking built in.
Word spacing: +0.05em on dense news sites.

Who should try Lexend first

If you fall into any of these groups, start your LexiFont trial with Lexend rather than OpenDyslexic:

You read a lot of long-form content (articles, reports, books).
You skip lines or lose your place mid-paragraph.
You don't rotate letters (b/d), but text feels "noisy" or crowded.
You want a font that looks modern rather than overtly "assistive".

Install LexiFont — 7-day Pro trial