Question: It’s a fairly well known accessibility issue that italic fonts should be avoided as they reduce readability for those with sight issues and dyslexia.

(discussed here: [Are italics on the web bad for accessibility?](https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/62742/are-italics-on-the-web-bad-for-accessibility))

However, most text editing tools still give three big bold-underline-italic buttons.

Is it **ever** OK to use italic font? 

How can the negatives be properly offset?

Answer: 
*I think it is perfectly fine to use italics.*

The keys, in my mind, are to (a) use the proper markup and (b) use emphasis appropriately.

As far as proper markup, most (but not all...) tools for generating web pages will produce italic and bold text appropriately using tags `<i>italicized text</i>` rather than messing around with tons of different fonts or other strange things. If done with proper tags, not only will browsers display the text properly (including any additional variations via CSS) but screen readers and other devices will be able to interpret the text properly, either reading it straight (ignoring the tags) or providing some some sort of indication that the text is italicized.

I have seen exceptions over the years. The classic example, for me, is using HTML markup generated by Microsoft Word - positively awful. But most modern content management systems and tools create fairly clean, accessible markup.

Why you **don't** *want to do* is *mix and match* *all **different** kinds of markup* together. It gets *ugly **really** fast*. And **NEVER SHOUT AT YOUR USERS**.
The problem with nearly all 'font readability studies' is that they use a completely arbitrary set of samples and an arbitrary sample size. [An example](http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/sites/default/files/good_fonts_for_dyslexia_study.pdf). 

As such, what they are typically measuring is "within the confines of these 8 typefaces, typeset in these very specific ways, and based on the results of these 48 people"...which is fine, but ultimately is only testing that specifically. 

And then we proclaim universal "truths" like "italics is bad for dyslexia". It may be, but we shouldn't assume that's absolutely true based on simple studies like this. 

There *are* general rules of typography to ensure something is readable, and those should always be followed. But "never use italics" isn't one of them. 

Ultimately if someone is dyslexic and they do have a preference for a very specific font, that is great, and thanks to the web, they can set that up on their local machine and use it, regardless of what your web site is using. And that's the ideal solution.