Avoid Thin and Italic Fonts That Impair Readability
The workshop requirement explicitly states: 'avoid thin/italic fonts'. The accessible-text-style-system must define a typography scale that excludes font weights below 400 (Regular) for any body or UI text and restricts italic usage to decorative or metadata-only contexts that are never the primary reading content. The accessibility-token-manifest must codify these constraints so that design token changes that introduce thin weights or italic body text are automatically flagged by the token-accessibility-enforcer. The theme-builder used for organization-specific branding must enforce this constraint even when organizations want custom typography.
User Story
Acceptance Criteria
- Given a peer mentor reads any body text, label, or navigation item in the app, when the text is rendered, then its font weight is 400 (Regular) or heavier — no Light (300) or Thin (100/200) weights are used
- Given a peer mentor reads a button label, form field label, or status badge, when the text is displayed, then it is not rendered in italic style
- Given an organization configures custom typography via theme-builder, when the selected font includes a weight below 400 for body text, then the token-accessibility-enforcer overrides it to the minimum compliant weight with a warning
- Given a developer adds a new text style to the design token system, when they set the font weight below 400 or enable italic for a body-level semantic role, then the ci-accessibility-lint-runner flags this as a violation
- Given a peer mentor with dyslexia reads the post-session report screen, when viewing all labels and content, then all text uses a clear, regular-weight font throughout the entire screen
Business Value
Multiple workshop participants, particularly from NHF (which includes users with cognitive disabilities and stroke-related reading difficulties) specifically requested avoidance of thin and italic fonts as a named accessibility requirement. This is a low-implementation-cost change that has outsized impact on users with dyslexia and cognitive reading impairments. Encoding it as a design token constraint ensures no individual screen or future feature accidentally regresses this requirement.
Components
- Accessible Text Style System ui
- Token Accessibility Enforcer service
- Accessibility Token Manifest data
- Accessibility Design Token Enforcer infrastructure
- Accessible Theme Builder infrastructure
- Design Token Provider data