The U.S. State Department Officially Cancels Times New Roman Font After Nearly 20 Years. Here's Why. It's not the first typeface to be dismissed — the last big shake-up took place in 2004.

By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas

"The Times (New Roman) are A-Changin," U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken quipped in a message to staff on Tuesday.

That's right: According to the cable and a series of tweets from a reporter for The Washington Post, the U.S. State Department is retiring Times New Roman after nearly two decades, citing "issues for individuals with disabilities" that come with serif fonts. Calibri will be the new standard.

Related: Broaden Your Branding with These Fonts From Monotype

Nearly 20 years ago, in late January 2004, Times New Roman 14 was the "new" font on the scene — replacing Courier New 12, which Slate likened to "an aging, elegant diplomat whose crisp, cream-colored linen suit and genteel demeanor now seem winningly old-fashioned."

But Times New Roman itself was hardly modern at that point: It was created by the British typographer Stanley Morison for the Times of London in 1932, according to the New York Public Library.

Serif fonts have ornamental lines or tapers (also known as "tails" or "feet") that can cause accessibility issues for people with disabilities who use Optical Character Recognition technology or screen readers. Additionally, it can introduce visual recognition problems for those with learning disabilities.

Related: Employing Individuals with Disabilities May Solve Your Talent Crisis

Calibri is a digital sans-serif typeface ("without" those decorative appendages) in the human or modernist style.

The new font is also the default on Microsoft products, and per the tweeted screenshot, was recommended as an accessibility best practice by the Secretary's Office of Diversity and Inclusion in collaboration with other departments.
Amanda Breen

BIZ Experiences Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at BIZ Experiences.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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