Microsoft commissioned Matthew Carter to create a typeface for reading on screen, specifically as part of the “Reading View” mode in Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 which shipped with Windows 8.1. The design was directly influenced by scientific legibility studies conducted by Microsoft’s Advanced Reading Technologies team led by Kevin Larson. The finished fonts were produced by Ross MIlls and John Hudson at Tiro Typeworks.

The family spans 4 styles, all available in 6 optical sizes: Small, Text, Subheading, Heading, Display, Banner. The character set includes Greek and Cyrillic.

The loosely spaced Fluent Sitka Small is a version intended to aid in dyslexic reading.