✎ Technique: Text spacing

Being able to change not just a site's text size but also its text spacing can be helpful to people with different disabilities. People with a variety of print disabilities (including low vision, dyslexia, other cognitive disabilities) can benefit from being able to increase the spacing between lines, words, and/or letters on their own device. When spacing is increased, the content should not become less readable, or unreadable, due to content overlapping or being completely hidden.

Examples

✗ Bad example: Non responsive interface.

The effect of changing the text spacing and line height on a non-responsive interface: some of the headline text of each item no longer displays

News headlines with video thumbnails, the text has its default spacing.

News headlines with video thumbnails, spacing between words is increased and the ends of headlines are cut off by the ones that follow.

✓ Good example: Responsive interface.

The effect of changing the text spacing and line height on a responsive interface: the headline text of each item always displays.

News headlines with video thumbnails, spacing between lines and words is increased and the headlines are still readable due to vertical space increasing to accommodate them.

(Source: Knowbility article on text spacing)