Reuters
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken’s resolution to undertake Calibri a “wasteful” variety transfer, in accordance to an inner division cable seen by Reuters.
The division beneath Blinken in early January 2023 had switched to Calibri, a contemporary sans-serif font, saying this was a extra accessible font for folks with disabilities as a result of it didn’t have the ornamental angular options and was the default in Microsoft merchandise.
A cable dated December 9 despatched to all US diplomatic posts stated that typography shapes the professionalism of an official doc and Calibri is casual in contrast to serif typefaces.
“To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department’s written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface,” the cable stated.
“This formatting standard aligns with the President’s One Voice for America’s Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department’s responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications,” it added.
The State Department didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Some research recommend that sans-serif fonts, similar to Calibri, are simpler to learn for these with sure visible disabilities.
Trump, a Republican, moved rapidly after taking workplace in January to eradicate federal variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) applications and discourage them within the personal sector and schooling, together with by directing the firing of variety officers at federal companies and pulling grant funding for a variety of applications.
DEI insurance policies grew to become extra widespread after nationwide protests in 2020 in opposition to police killings of unarmed Black folks, spurring a conservative backlash. Trump and different critics of variety initiatives say they’re discriminatory in opposition to white folks and males and have eroded merit-based resolution making.