Enhancements help people with learning disabilities use the Internet
For people with dyslexia and other learning disabilities, reading–in print and on the Internet–can be a nightmare. Though their vision may be fine, they may see individual characters as collapsed, distorted, wiggling, or reversed. Their phonological processing can be relatively weak, making it hard for them to associate words with phonemes. They can follow conversations, but have difficulties understanding written sentences.
To address such symptoms, a group of researchers at IBM in Japan made improvements in the IBM accessibility asset Easy Web Browsing to determine if they could help people with dyslexia and learning disabilities use the Internet more effectively.
With the new prototype software, users can:
- Read text out loud - hearing Web content can help enhance understanding.
- Adjust the line height and character spacing - more space between characters is especially important for people with visual processing issues.
- Place a colored overlay - akin to covering a printed document with a colored filter or wearing glasses with colored lenses (Irlen Syndrome), the "strip-shaped" or "whole screen" filter helps people focus.
- Use a ruler - similar to putting a ruler under a sentence to mark the focal point, the EWB ruler can be placed anywhere on the screen and sized to different widths.
- View a page layout map - the EWB page layout window helps people with short-term memory issues or attention deficit disorder keep their place on a long page of text and remember areas they have already read.
- Magnify the screen or a portion of it.
- Highlight text - Changing the color of the words EWB is reading helps people follow along and concentrate.
- Change text and background color - Contrast between the foreground and background colors can help people with low vision or senior citizens read easier.
After a series of user tests, the researchers concluded that these features were desirable for people with learning disabilities. They also discovered other features that could be added to enhance the Internet experience. Keep checking here for news and updates about Easy Web Browsing for people with learning disabilities.