The U.S. government does not impose a single font across all its communications. U.S. government font requirements vary by context: federal websites follow the U.S. Web Design System, court filings follow strict rules set by each court, and agency filings like patent applications and contractor proposals each carry their own specifications. Below is what applies where.
Fonts Required for Federal Websites
Public-facing federal websites are governed by the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS), the framework maintained by the General Services Administration. The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act requires executive agencies to make their public websites consistent and accessible, and OMB Memorandum M-23-22 directs agencies to use the USWDS to meet those requirements, stating that “all public-facing websites and digital services must comply with the Federal website standards which incorporate the USWDS.”1The White House. M-23-22 Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience
The USWDS does not force one typeface on every agency. It defines font roles — body, heading, code, UI — and lets agencies assign a typeface to each role. The out-of-the-box defaults are Source Sans Pro for sans-serif body text and Merriweather for serif headings. Built-in alternatives include Public Sans, Open Sans, Georgia, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana, and a system font stack that uses whatever sans-serif typeface the visitor’s operating system provides.2U.S. Web Design System. Font Family
Public Sans is the government’s own open-source typeface, built by the USWDS team for government use. It supports Latin characters only, so agencies publishing in non-Latin scripts need a different typeface for those portions.3GitHub. Public Sans
Accessibility Rules That Shape the Choice
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal electronic and information technology to be usable by people with disabilities.4Federal Communications Commission. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act – 29 USC 798 Neither Section 508 nor the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines names a specific typeface or sets a hard minimum font size.5Section508.gov. Understanding Accessible Fonts and Typography for Section 508 Compliance What they do require are measurable contrast ratios between text and background:
- Standard text at Level AA: at least 4.5 to 1.
- Large text at Level AA: at least 3 to 1.
- Enhanced contrast at Level AAA: at least 7 to 1 for standard text and 4.5 to 1 for large text.
- Non-text elements like icons and UI controls: at least 3 to 1.
Logos and brand names are exempt from these contrast rules.6W3C. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 On sizing, Section 508 guidance recommends body text of 11 to 12 points (roughly 15 to 16 pixels on screen) and warns that running text below 9 points creates an accessibility barrier.5Section508.gov. Understanding Accessible Fonts and Typography for Section 508 Compliance Accessibility guidance also favors sans-serif fonts for several on-screen contexts, which is why the USWDS defaults to sans-serif for body text.
Font Rules for Federal Court Filings
Court rules are where the government gets specific. A brief set in the wrong typeface can be rejected or sent back for reformatting.
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court requires all booklet-format documents to be typeset in a Century family font — Century Expanded, New Century Schoolbook, or Century Schoolbook — at 12-point type with at least 2 points of leading between lines. Footnotes must be set in 10 points or larger.7Legal Information Institute. Rule 33 Document Preparation Booklet Format 8.5 by 11-Inch Paper Format
Federal Appellate Courts
Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure requires proportionally spaced typefaces to include serifs and to be set at 14 points or larger. Sans-serif type is allowed for headings and captions. Monospaced typefaces may not exceed 10.5 characters per inch. Briefs must be double-spaced on 8.5-by-11-inch paper with one-inch margins on all sides.8Legal Information Institute. Rule 32 Form of Briefs, Appendices, and Other Papers The rule names no specific font family. Any serif typeface at 14 points satisfies the requirement.
State Courts
State-level formatting varies, but most jurisdictions require a minimum font size somewhere between 12 and 14 points. Specific typeface mandates are less common than at the federal level; many states simply require a readable serif or proportionally spaced font and let the filer choose.
Font Requirements for Filings With Federal Agencies
Businesses and individuals filing documents with federal agencies run into typography rules that live inside each agency’s regulations.
Federal Contractor Proposals
Contractors responding to federal solicitations follow the formatting instructions in each solicitation. The Commerce Acquisition Regulation, as one example, requires technical proposals to be typed and double-spaced using 12-pitch elite font on single-sided 8.5-by-11-inch paper with one-inch margins. Pages beyond the stated page limit are discarded during evaluation.9Acquisition.GOV. Proposal Preparation
Patent Applications
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requires specification text, including claims and the abstract, to be set in a non-script font such as Arial, Times Roman, or Courier, preferably at 12 points. Capital letters must be at least 0.125 inches tall, with an absolute minimum of 0.08 inches. Numbers and reference characters in patent drawings must be at least 1/8 inch tall, though the rules do not mandate a specific font family for the drawings themselves.10Patent and Trademark Office. MPEP Chapter 600 – Application Content and Filing Date Requirements
SEC Filings Through EDGAR
Companies filing through the SEC’s EDGAR system follow the technical formatting rules in the EDGAR Filer Manual, which governs how electronic submissions are structured and displayed.11eCFR. 17 CFR 232.301 – EDGAR Filer Manual Specific typeface and sizing requirements appear in the manual itself, which the SEC publishes directly.
Fonts Used in Federal Print Documents
Routine print documents inside federal agencies are not standardized the way websites and court filings are. The Government Publishing Office, which produces the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and Congressional documents, does not enforce a single government-wide typeface. Its 2016 Style Manual evaluates and selects typefaces on a per-format basis. The manual itself was set in Helvetica and Minion Pro, but that choice carries no broader mandate.
For memos, forms, and internal reports, agencies generally default to whatever ships with standard word processing software. Times New Roman and Arial dominate legacy documents, and Calibri has gained ground in newer materials. No federal regulation requires a specific typeface for routine agency correspondence.
Using Public Sans Outside the Government
The government’s own typeface is free to use. Public Sans is released under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1.3GitHub. Public Sans The font is copyrighted, but the license grants broad permissions: you can use it in any project, modify it, and redistribute it without paying a fee.12SIL Open Font License. Why Use the OFL
The restrictions are limited:
- You cannot sell the font files by themselves. Selling software that bundles the font is allowed.
- Any modified version must be released under the same SIL Open Font License.
- If you modify the font, you cannot call your modified version “Public Sans” without written permission from the copyright holder.
Documents you create using Public Sans carry no licensing restrictions. The license applies to the font software, not to anything you typeset with it. Font files are available from the USWDS website and the Public Sans GitHub repository.3GitHub. Public Sans