Ann Bessemans Children do not just need to decode text; they need to read with expression. Expressive reading links directly to comprehension, yet it is one of the hardest skills to teach. While AI voices and podcasts easily shift tone and sentiment, text remains stubbornly monotone. If reading is to remain central in an expressive, voice-driven culture, typography itself must evolve.
Our project asks what if text itself became expressive. We develop fonts that embed visual signals for prosody such as pitch, duration, and pause so that children can perform text with fluency and confidence. These expressive typefaces turn abstract linguistic cues into concrete guides, giving young readers a bridge between speech and print.
A key case study highlights the ambiguous comma. Although commas are meant to indicate pauses, their visual form carries no information about how long or how strong that pause should be. We show how redesigning this mark within expressive fonts can better support comprehension, especially for children learning phrasing.
By showing how fonts can embody linguistic insights, this talk positions typography not just as style but as educational technology. Expressive fonts represent an emerging market opportunity for ed-tech, bridging research and practice with tools that are natural, scalable, and fun. In an age when AI makes speech more expressive than ever, expressive typography can ensure that reading keeps pace.