Why does Chicago use Comic Sans on some elevator inspection certificates?

The city of Chicago’s elevator inspection certificates have long baffled residents with a single, jarring detail: the phrase "this certifies that" is rendered in Comic Sans, a font widely mocked as unprofessional and childish. In a deep dive into this quirky anomaly, reporter Sophie Lalonde uncovers that the font’s presence isn’t a joke or a deliberate act of subversion—but a technical accident. The change occurred when legacy inspection software was migrated to new servers that lacked the original, formal fonts. In the absence of those fonts, the system defaulted to the next available one alphabetically—Comic Sans. This explains why only the phrase "this certifies that" appears in the font, while the rest of the document uses more official typefaces. The mystery, once thought to be a political prank or bureaucratic whimsy, is ultimately a relic of outdated IT infrastructure. Despite its absurdity, the font has become a beloved symbol of Chicago’s quirky identity, and its days may be numbered now that the issue has been flagged. The real takeaway? Sometimes the most bizarre official documents are just glitches in the machine. The episode reveals that Comic Sans, once designed to feel friendly and accessible, has become a cultural punchline—yet it still serves real purposes, from aiding dyslexic readers to reducing writing anxiety.