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The Font is DEI Now: When Accessibility Becomes Political Theater

Patrick Duggan
Dec 11, 2025
4 min read

--- title: "The Font is DEI Now: When Accessibility Becomes Political Theater" slug: dei-font-controversy-accessibility-first date: 2025-12-10 author: Patrick Duggan tags: [accessibility, dei, fonts, state-department, rubio, calibri, times-new-roman, hot-take] category: Hot Takes featured: true ---

A Blind Guy's Perspective on Today's Dumbest Controversy

> *"The font is DEI now. I repeat: the font is DEI now."* — Me, reading the news today

I woke up this morning to discover that my font choices are apparently political. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has banned Calibri at the State Department because it was — and I'm quoting here — a "DEI hire."

A font. Was a DEI hire.

Let me tell you why this is personal.

Why I Use Sans-Serif Fonts

I'm legally blind. Not "needs reading glasses" blind. Actually blind. The kind where I have to stick my face six inches from the monitor to read code, and even then I'm squinting.

When I built the DugganUSA threat intelligence dashboard, I didn't pick fonts based on what "connotes tradition, formality and ceremony." I picked fonts I could actually read.

• Cleaner lines

• Better letter spacing

• No decorative squiggles that blur together when your vision is garbage

• Higher readability for people with dyslexia, low vision, and other visual impairments

This isn't ideology. This is "I need to read my own threat intelligence reports."

What Actually Happened

In 2023, the State Department switched from Times New Roman to Calibri. The accessibility office recommended it because — get this — it's easier for visually impaired people to read.

Today, Marco Rubio reversed that decision. His reasoning:

> *"[Calibri] clashes with the State Department's letterhead"*

> *"Serif fonts like Times New Roman connote tradition, formality and ceremony"*

He acknowledged Calibri wasn't "the most illegal, immoral, radical or wasteful" example of DEI.

But he banned it anyway.

Cost to taxpayers for the original switch: allegedly $145,000. Cost to switch back: Nobody's saying.

The Response from People Who Actually Know Things

Molly Eagan, CEO of VISIONS (a nonprofit serving the visually impaired), said it better than I can:

> *"The State Department's decision to move away from Calibri may seem minor, but for many people with vision impairment (myself included), readability is not a small detail – it's essential. Calibri and other sans-serif fonts are widely recommended because they are easier to read for people with visual impairments."*

The research on serif vs. sans-serif readability isn't conclusive for everyone. But for people with vision issues? The preference is clear. And the State Department's own accessibility office agreed — which is why they made the switch in the first place.

The Accidental Political Statement

So here I am, a threat intelligence researcher in Minnesota, catching malware distributors on GitHub while squinting at my accessible dashboard.

And apparently my font choices are now politically controversial.

Our users gave us positive feedback this week. They said the dashboard was accessible. They could read it. The data was clear.

That was the goal. Not virtue signaling. Not DEI theater. Just: make it readable.

But sure. The font is DEI now.

What This Is Really About

Let's be honest about what's happening here.

This isn't about fonts. It's about finding things to reverse. The State Department's DEI office was disbanded. Now they're going through everything that office touched and undoing it, regardless of whether it made sense.

Calibri helped visually impaired employees read documents? Doesn't matter. DEI touched it. Reverse it.

The accessibility justification was legitimate? Doesn't matter. DEI touched it. Reverse it.

Times New Roman is objectively harder to read for some employees? Doesn't matter. Tradition. Ceremony. Formality.

The Actual Lesson

Here's what I know from building software while blind:

Accessibility isn't political. It's practical.

When you can't see well, you build things you can use. You pick fonts that don't blur. You use high contrast. You make buttons big enough to hit. You do this because the alternative is not being able to use your own product.

Every accessibility feature in our dashboard exists because I needed it. Not because a committee decided it would look good on a diversity report. Because I literally cannot do my job without it.

That's the difference between accessibility-first design and accessibility theater.

And apparently, the State Department just decided to do theater instead.

The Bottom Line

> *"Tradition, formality, and ceremony"* — Rubio's justification for Times New Roman

> *"I need to read my own dashboard"* — My justification for sans-serif

One of these is practical. One of these is politics.

I'll keep using accessible fonts. The State Department can enjoy their formal, ceremonial, traditional documents that some of their employees will struggle to read.

Meanwhile, I've got malware to catch.

Sources

• [TechCrunch: Marco Rubio bans Calibri font at State Department for being too DEI](https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/10/marco-rubio-bans-calibri-font-at-state-department-for-being-too-dei/)

• [ABC News: Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rubio-orders-state-department-change-official-memo-font/story?id=128282010)

• [Engadget: State Department: Calibri font was a DEI hire](https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/state-department-calibri-font-was-a-dei-hire-190454957.html)

• [Las Vegas Sun: Calibri font becomes the latest DEI target](https://lasvegassun.com/news/2025/dec/10/calibri-font-becomes-the-latest-dei-target-as-rubi/)

*Patrick Duggan is the founder of DugganUSA LLC, a threat intelligence company in Minnesota. He is visually impaired and uses whatever fonts he damn well pleases.*

*Generated: 2025-12-10*

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