State of Illinois Bans Arial Font

Gary D. Köhler
From the April 1999 Monitor

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From Unified Press Service
Springfield, Ill., April 1.--The Illinois House voted today to ban the use of Arial, Helvetica, Swiss, and other "sans-serif" fonts in official state documents.

Pete Moss (D-Galesburg), sponsor of the bill, stated: "When Illinois is spelled out in one of these fonts you can't tell the capital "I" from the lowercase "l"'s--and that's just wrong."

Asked about the civil liberties issues, Rep. Moss clarified, "this law only applies to official State documents prepared by state officials and employees, and contract work done for the state by printing companies. Private citizens can use any font they prefer, but I think the good people of Illinois will themselves reject these fonts."

Moss pointed out that alternative fonts such as Tahoma are available which address the issue of distinguishing the two letters.

Governor Edgar is expected to sign the bill next Tuesday.

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Updated: 04/23/99

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