The Write Right Font: An Experiment Typeface with Auto Corrects Common Typos

• justfont
• Role: Project Manager & Typeface Engineer
• Co-work with: Typeface Designer, Project Manager
• Tools: Glyphs, Python, Git
• Github Repo: https://github.com/justfont/The-Write-Right-Font

Tired of your friends always making typos?

The Write Right Font (就是不錯字（吧）) is a modified version of the Iansui (芫荽) typeface, designed and programmed by justfont. It’s an open-source Traditional Chinese font that uses OpenType to automatically correct common typos as you type. The font is designed to help everyone who struggles with various typos in daily life.

In any software that supports OpenType features, when you use The Write Right Font to type common typos, it will automatically substitute them with the correct characters. For example, 在次 will be substituted with 再次, 因該 with 應該, 以經 with 已經, and 收尋 with 搜尋.

The font is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and is free for anyone to use and share with their friends.

What Makes Typo?

Taiwanese using Bopomofo IME often make typos because Bopomofo represents phonetic sounds rather than direct character input. Since many Chinese characters share similar pronunciations, it's easy to accidentally select the wrong character with the same or a similar sound.

One on hand, homophones in Mandarin can contribute to confusion, especially when context is not immediately clear. This results in common mistakes, like typing 因該 /Yīn Gāi/ (correct is 應該 /Yīng Gāi/) or 在次 /Zài Cì/ (correct is 再次 /Zài Cì/).

On the other hand, many people online typing fast and do not select the correct character after inputting, leading to frequent homophone and typo errors. This habit, combined with the phonetic nature of Bopomofo IME, results in a higher occurrence of incorrect characters.

Although most software now offers text correction and automatic character selection features, we envision whether it is possible to address typo corrections directly at the font level. By integrating correction mechanisms into the font itself, we could automatically fix common mistakes as users type, providing a more seamless and efficient solution for reducing typos.

Database and Application

The typo correction database for The Write Right Font has been manually collected by the justfont, included common typos and misused words in Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Hokkien, and Hakka, with usage standards based on the Ministry of Education's dictionary and recommended characters.

Additionally, some terms have been manually excluded to avoid overcorrection. For example, if you type 以經理的意見為主, it won't automatically replace 以經 with 已經. Similarly, in the sentence 他剛剛從新竹過來, 從新 will not be replaced with 重新.

Happy April Fools' Day! Just feel free to use and share it with all your friends, especially those who often make typos!