Tiresias (typeface)

Last updated
Tiresias
Tiresias Specimen.svg
Category Sans-serif
Designer(s) The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB)
License GNU General Public License

Tiresias is a family of TrueType sans-serif typefaces that were designed with the aim of legibility by people with impaired vision at the Scientific Research Unit of Royal National Institute of Blind People in London. The font was originally designed for the RNIB by Chris Sharville of Laker Sharville Design Associates who was working with John Gill at the time.

Contents

The family includes

In late 2007, all Tiresias fonts except Tiresias Screenfont were released under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version. [1]

The name likely refers to Tiresias from Greek Mythology, a blind prophet of Apollo.

Tiresias Screenfont

Tiresias Screenfont was developed as new font for digital television subtitles. [2] [3] It was mandated for use on UK (DVB-T) by the Independent Television Commission [4] [5] and is still one of the fonts recommended for use by Ofcom. [6] However, the font has come in for criticism for the development and testing process, the lack of italics and design. [7]

The Tiresias Screenfont was sold by Bitstream Inc., who in 2012 were acquired by Monotype Corporation. The acquiring company continues to market Tiresias on its websites.

See also

References

  1. "Tiresias fonts free downloads". 2009-11-20. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  2. "A new font for digital Television subtitles Janet Silver, John Gill, Christopher Sharville, James Slater and Michael Martin".
  3. "Design of a Typeface for Digital Television J Gill, J Silver, C Sharville, J Slater & M Martin".
  4. "Guidance on Standards for Subtitling: Digital Services". Independent Television Commission. Archived from the original on 2009-02-10.
  5. "DVB Subtitling in an Open Environment Nick Tanton and Peter Weitzel" (PDF).
  6. "Statement: Ensuring the quality of TV and on-demand access services". 2024-04-15.
  7. "What's wrong with Tiresias?".