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The Trump administration’s State Department, headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, A memo was issued on Wednesday With bad news for Phone users And people with visual impairment. The switch to the Calibri font for official communications will be cancelled, and replaced by the previous Times New Roman font.
This change may seem like a simple step, but it could have major ramifications for government documents, which outline American responses to both national and international events, and are read around the world.
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Calibri became the agency’s official font in 2023, as it is considered a more readable font on digital screens. The decision to switch away from using Calibri can be a real headache for some readers – which may be why we no longer use Times New Roman at work either.
Rubio’s directive, “Return to Tradition: 14-point Times New Roman font required for all department papers,” said Times New Roman connotes “tradition, formality, and ceremony.”
“Whether it’s internal memos, paperwork prepared for school administrators, or documents shared externally, consistent coordination enhances credibility and supports the department’s unified identity,” a State Department spokesperson told CNET.
Rubio explicitly blamed diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs for what he called a “wasteful” move to use Calibri. Following this announcement, headlines described the move as the latest salvo in… The administration’s war on “Awakened”.“.
Why Calibri?
Calibri is an important font for everyone’s eyes.
Under the Biden administration, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a move to mandate the Calibri font, the same sans-serif typeface that became Microsoft’s default font in 2007. The motivation was to improve accessibility and readability.
While Times New Roman is beautiful (and popular), its serifs — those extra bits at the edges — make it more difficult to read, especially for people with a range of visual disabilities, such as dyslexia.
That’s why guidelines like the globally used Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommend using sans-serif fonts, which don’t contain confusing elements that look like wings and feet. Sans-serif fonts, such as Calibri, are easier to read on small screens like phones And laptopsand less likely to cause Eye strain When viewing documents for long periods.
Calibri is also a font comfortably familiar to most office workers. Before moving to Aptos, a simpler font, Microsoft Office used Calibri as the standard font for 17 years.
The State Department’s new instructions also conflict with federal recommendations from the Americans with Disabilities Act. Currently found herewhich still enforces sans-serif fonts for accessible text on government websites.
How much does it cost to return to Times New Roman?
Luxury lines come with hidden costs.
It’s not every day that lines become a source of controversy, at least not in politics.
Changing back to Times New Roman would likely reduce accessibility (at least when it comes to official State Department communications). It can even make things expensive. Back in 2014, CNET Paper covered by an ambitious sixth grader His name is Suvir Mirchandani, who discovered that fonts with small, serif fonts use up a lot of extra ink.
Since the government tends to print many of its documents around the world, switching to a clean font could have saved the problem The federal government generates millions of dollars annually In ink costs. Although we can’t confirm how much it costs the State Department to use Calibri, it’s clear that one short memo can cost the government in more ways than one.