We’re working on a new page layout for our ebooks

The purpose of this theme is simple: to make ebook pages easier and more comfortable to read for some people with dyslexia, visual stress, or related reading difficulties.

Our apps (like many others) already allow readers to manually adjust the appearance of book pages. You can change settings such as font style, font size, line spacing, margins, alignment, colour theme, and other display preferences. But we know that not every reader wants to experiment with a long list of settings before they can settle into a book.

The idea is to give you a thoughtful, research-informed starting point: one tap to apply a set of reading-friendly choices, with the freedom to tweak anything afterwards.

We would welcome comments, corrections and practical advice from dyslexia organisations, accessibility specialists, educators, researchers, and readers with lived experience.

Why we think this matters

Reading comfort is highly personal. What works beautifully for one reader may not work for another. That is especially true for dyslexic readers, who may experience visual crowding, difficulty tracking lines, sensitivity to spacing, or fatigue when reading dense blocks of text.

A common example is full justification. Fully justified text looks so neat and book-like, but it often creates uneven gaps between words. On a small phone screen, those gaps can become especially noticeable. Some readers find that this makes text harder to follow. Left-aligned text, with a ragged right edge, is often easier because the spacing between words remains more consistent.

That is the kind of problem this new mode is designed to address.

There isn’t one perfect layout for all dyslexic readers. Nor can typography “solve” dyslexia. But good reading controls can reduce unnecessary friction and make digital reading more comfortable.

What the mode would change

Our current plan is for Dyslexia Mode to apply the following settings by default:

1. Left-aligned text

Paragraph text would be set to left aligned, rather than fully justified.

This avoids uneven word spacing and reduces the chance of “rivers” of white space appearing through the page. We believe this is one of the most important choices for a dyslexia-friendly reading mode, especially on narrow mobile screens.

2. Open Dyslexic font

The default font would be Google’s “Open Dyslexic” font, which has been a god-send for many dyslexic readers. It’s a typeface designed to mitigate common reading challenges like letter flipping and rotation. It helps by giving characters heavier, weighted bottoms and unique letter shapes, making text appear more stable and easier to recognize for readers with dyslexia.

If Open Dyslexic is not for you (and it seems that only about half of dyslexic readers find it helpful) then you can easily switch to an alternative font — but we’re open to your advice on this.

3. Slightly larger text

The theme would increase the default text size slightly.

Larger text can reduce visual strain and make word recognition easier for many readers. We do not want to make the type so large that each line becomes too short, particularly on phones, but we do think the theme should start a little larger than the standard reading view.

You’ll still be able to increase or decrease the size after applying the theme.

4. More generous line spacing

The theme would use more generous line spacing than a conventional ebook layout.

Our current thinking is to use line spacing of around 1.4 to 1.5. This should give the text more breathing room without making lines feel disconnected from each other.

Some readers may prefer more spacing, and others may prefer less. The theme would simply provide a comfortable starting point.

5. Comfortable margins

The theme would use moderately generous margins.

Margins can reduce the sense of visual crowding, but on a phone there is a trade-off: margins that are too wide can make each line too short. We will aim for a balanced setting that gives the page some breathing room while preserving a useful line length.

6. A softer background

The theme would use dark text on a warm off-white or cream background, rather than stark black text on a pure white background.

Some readers find high-glare white backgrounds uncomfortable. A softer background may reduce visual stress while still maintaining good contrast.

We will continue to offer other colour themes, including high-contrast options, because colour preferences vary considerably.

7. Conservative hyphenation

The theme would either turn hyphenation off or use it conservatively.

Breaking words across lines can add an extra decoding burden for some readers. Avoiding unnecessary hyphenation may make reading flow more naturally, especially for younger readers or those reading in a second language.

What the theme would not do

The theme would not lock users into a fixed design.

After applying Dyslexia mode, you can then adjust the settings manually to suit your preferences. You might change the font, enlarge or reduce the text, alter line spacing, switch colour themes, adjust margins, or change alignment.

The theme would also not override every aspect of publisher design. Layout really matters for poetry. And some books contain tables, diagrams, code samples, or other material where layout carries meaning. We need to preserve the integrity of the book while still giving readers better control over ordinary reflowable paragraph text.

Why we are asking for comment

We want this feature to be useful, respectful and evidence-informed. We’re especially interested in feedback on questions such as:

• Are these the right default settings for a dyslexia-friendly reading theme?
• Would you recommend different defaults for font, spacing, background colour, or margins?
• Are there settings we should leave alone?
• Should “Open Dyslexic” be the default font?
• Are there particular problems dyslexic readers encounter in ebook apps that we may not have considered?
• How should we explain this feature to users in a way that is helpful?
• Would “Dyslexic Mode” be the right name, or would another label be clearer and more inclusive?

Test Dyslexia mode here:

https://reader.ebooks.com/moonstone

When the book opens, click on the button in the top menu:

Our aim

Our aim is not to create a perfect dyslexia layout, but just to reduce friction.

You should not need to understand typography, accessibility standards, or ebook rendering settings just to make a page feel readable. We want to make it so you can open a book, choose a helpful theme, and then adjust it further if you wish.

If you have expertise or lived experience in this area, we would be grateful for your advice. We are listening, and we would like to get this right. Please just drop any thoughts or suggestions in the comments field below.