Even a typeface can be woke. At least that’s the message that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has sent U.S. diplomats.
Rubio ordered that his agency stop using the Calibri typeface and replace it with Times New Roman for official communications, according to an “Action Request” memo obtained by The New York Times and an internal cable seen by Reuters.
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The directive describes the return to Times New Roman as a bid to “restore decorum and professionalism,” and characterizes the Biden-era shift to Calibri as a “wasteful” diversity move.
Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken, mandated the switch to Calibri in 2023, citing advice from the department’s diversity office. The goal was to make documents easier to read for individuals with disabilities or those using screen readers. At the time, disability advocates praised the decision, arguing that sans-serif designs are often more legible.
In the memo, however, Rubio criticized Calibri as too “informal” and argued it “clashes” with the department’s seal, according to The New York Times. Reuters noted that Rubio intended to “abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program,” saying the font switch aligns with President Donald Trump’s “One Voice” executive order, which requires all State Department employees to follow the president’s directions.
How does accessibility factor into the dispute?
Rubio’s directive disputes the accessibility benefits, claiming the 2023 switch “achieved nothing.” He cited data showing no drop in “accessibility-based document remediation cases” as proof that the change failed. However, The Guardian reports that some studies suggest sans-serif fonts can be easier to read for certain visual disabilities.
The Times reports that before 2004, the department used Courier New and that Times New Roman was standard for nearly two decades.
