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Empowering Independence Through Design: Investigating Standard Digital Design Patterns For Easy-to-Read Users.
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One explanation of the correlation often observed between working-memory span scores and reading comprehension is that individuals differ in level of activation available for long-term memory units. Two experiments used the fan manipulation to test this idea. In Experiment 1, high- and low-working-memory Ss learned a set of unrelated sentences varying in the number of shared concepts (fan) and then performed speeded recognition for those sentences. Low-working-memory Ss showed a larger increase in recognition time as fan increased. When the slope of the fan effect was partialed out of the relationship between working-memory span and verbal abilities, the relationship was reduced to nonsignificance. In Experiment 2, Ss learned thematically related sentences that varied in fan. Low-span Ss showed the positive fan effect typically found with thematically unrelated sentences, whereas high-span Ss showed a negative fan effect. The results are discussed in terms of a general capacity theory.
A theory of the way working memory capacity constrains comprehension is proposed. The theory proposes that both processing and storage are mediated by activation and that the total amount of activation available in working memory varies among individuals. Individual differences in working memory capacity for language can account for qualitative and quantitative differences among college-age adults in several aspects of language comprehension. One aspect is syntactic modularity: The larger capacity of some individuals permits interaction among syntactic and pragmatic information, so that their syntactic processes are not informationally encapsulated. Another aspect is syntactic ambiguity: The larger capacity of some individuals permits them to maintain multiple interpretations. The theory is instantiated as a production system model in which the amount of activation available to the model affects how it adapts to the transient computational and storage demands that occur in comprehension.
This study examines whether the common typographical recommendations for texts in easy-to-read language are helpful. So far, using a sans-serif font in 14 pt has been suggested. The statistical evaluation shows that Thesis TheSans is read significantly faster than Arial. Fonts with serifs are read slightly faster. The font size of 12 pt is large enough. The study clearly indicates that the strict commitment to sans serif fonts—and the Arial font in particular—for texts in easy-to-read language is wrong. The results can be used by designers and clients as a valid decision-making aid when creating barrier-free communication.
Easy-to-read language (Leichte Sprache) is a tool for barrier-free communication. In Germany, easy-to-read language is utilised by means of a set of rigid rules. In practice, the rules for typography tend to promote uniform design. From a linguistic viewpoint, different types of text are not differentiated, while from a visual viewpoint, the design is not genre-specific. This interdisciplinary study investigates whether the target group uses typographical features for purposes of text comprehension and can recognize different types of text.
Six different types of text were investigated, three of which were present both in a genrespecific design and in easy-to-read language. In total, nine design examples were tested by 38 participants in the study (24 people with so-called mental handicaps and 14 so-called functional illiterates). The data of the study was triangulated with a structured interview and a written selection procedure.
The results show that the participants possess graphic knowledge and draw on this in their reception of texts. A genre-specific design enables them to make conclusions about the content of a text without even reading a word. Texts in conventional design were consistently assigned to the correct text type better than texts in generic “easy-to-read” design. This also applied to text types whose linguistic level means they are not used in everyday life by the target group of easy-to-read language. The specifications of the easy-to-read rules make it more difficult to apply graphic knowledge when reading, and more difficult to categorize texts according to their genre. The resultant design is recognised by the participants and associated with institutions for the disabled. This is a sign that a new (dysfunctional) genre has emerged here.
The target group with reading difficulties needs an optimum design for its reading materials. We may assume that a conventional, genre-oriented design is better suited than a uniform design according to the hitherto rules. One of our research aims is to determine how to adjust the design to aid the target group. The present study offers initial suggestions as to what might be the decisive parameters.
In our age of ubiquitous digital displays, adults often read in short, opportunistic interludes. In this context of Interlude Reading, we consider if manipulating font choice can improve adult readers' reading outcomes. Our studies normalize font size by human perception and use hundreds of crowdsourced participants to provide a foundation for understanding which fonts people prefer and which fonts make them more effective readers. Participants' reading speeds (measured in WPM) increased by 35% when comparing fastest and slowest fonts without affecting reading comprehension. High WPM variability across fonts suggests that one font does not fit all. We provide font recommendations related to higher reading speed and discuss the need for individuation, allowing digital devices to match their readers' needs in the moment. We provide recommendations from one of the most significant online reading efforts to date. To complement this, we release our materials and tools with this paper.
This article explores the emerging promise touchscreen devices hold for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). Many individuals with ID that struggle to read, write or use voice assisted strategies can use touchscreen devices in many aspects of their lives. Research has shown that touchscreen technology is available, easy to use and can open an array of empowering possibilities for individuals with ID. In this article we will be sharing research and a vision for possible uses of touchscreen devices in the future for individuals with ID. Our perspectives are shaped by our experiences with using touchscreen technology in collaboration with people who have ID. A special aspect of our research methodology is the fact that one of our co-researchers has ID.
Adaptive user interfaces are user interfaces that dynamically adapt to the users’ preferences and abilities. These user interfaces have great potential to improve accessibility of user interfaces for people with cognitive disabilities. However automatic changes to user interfaces driven by adaptivity are also in contradiction to accessibility guidelines, as consistence of user interfaces is of utmost importance for people with cognitive disabilities. This paper describes how such user interfaces are implemented within the Easy Reading framework, a framework to improve the accessibility of web-pages for people with cognitive disabilities.
Mobile phone technology is becoming ubiquitous. However, a number of unique usability challenges are still unresolved, including small screen size, device orientation changes, and an array of interaction methods (tap, flick, pinch, etc.) These challenges may be particularly acute for people with learning disabilities. This study examined the usability of touchscreen interactions, the difficulties, and possible solutions. An app was developed in which (12) participants accessed Google Maps and manipulated it to find various London Underground station locations. Text input (a password), tap, swipe, and pinch were required, and their usage was analysed. Many participants were successful in finding the required information. However, many difficulties arose, including misunderstandings of the labelling (a live ‘Welcome’ button was not tapped, whereas a short list of instructions was erroneously seen as a menu and so erroneously tapped to access each step in the process) and an over-sensitive zoom feature. Three categories of error were formulated from the findings: affordance, user, and functionality. Recommendations are offered, such as using more appropriate ‘signage’ for link buttons (affordance); manipulating the zoom feature using + and - buttons rather than a ‘pinch’, which requires two fingered dexterity (functionality); and more formal training and familiarity (user).
Young Adults with Intellectual Disability (YAID) are interested in participating in social media as it offers opportunities for their social participation and inclusion. However, the literature remains incomplete on the nature of participation across popular social media sites by YAID, and how different social media sites fulfil their participation interests. To explore this, we employed a mixed methods approach involving interviews, participant observation, training workshops, and a survey with YAID. We found that participation interests varied between platforms: all participants used YouTube for entertainment, some participated in Facebook to stay connected with family, whereas Snapchat and Instagram were used for playful interaction with strangers. Awareness of online safety emerged as a key competence, while literacy, authentication, netiquette and disruption from advertising content adversely affected participation. We discuss how to address these issues to support and sustain participation, as well as opportunities for leveraging participation in social media for skills development.
Access to the Internet has become a sine qua non-of everyday life. It also offers new routes to economic and social inclusion for disabled people. Research on the digital divide shows that social factors affect Internet access but disability status is often overlooked. This paper assesses the extent to which disability makes a difference and how it interacts with other social effects to produce distinctive forms of digital exclusion. The analysis uses survey data from 27 European countries to explore and model, statistically, the interactions between Internet access, disability status, age, gender, education, household financial situation and household composition. Multilevel analysis confirms that socio-demographic factors can explain much variance in outcomes but there is a distinctive disability effect. In particular, the adverse effects of financial constraint, aging and living alone are exacerbated among disabled people. New policies to strengthen e-accessibility, arising from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and from the European Union, are important but cannot ignore those who are still excluded from the online revolution. Disabled people are over-represented in this group. The evidence suggests that both accessible technologies and appropriate supportive relationships are needed to address this.
Obwohl gerade der Einsatz des Computers und des Internets im schulischen Kontext
zunehmend an Bedeutung gewinnt, gibt es kaum empirische Untersuchungen über
das Nutzungsverhalten von digitalen Medien durch Lehrkräfte im Förderschulbereich.
In der vorliegenden Online-Befragung wurden insgesamt 654 Lehrkräfte an Förderschulen befragt, welchen Stellenwert der Computer und das Internet in ihrer Arbeit hat. Ziel der Erhebung ist es, neue Erkenntnisse hinsichtlich der Nutzungshäufigkeit und Nutzungsart dieser Medien in der Unterrichtspraxis zu gewinnen.
Due to the low quality level of visual input they receive in the form of printed text, visually impaired beginning readers are at a disadvantage in comparison to their peers. In the past, typography has often been regarded as a useful instrument to improve the legibility of the printed reading material that is being offered to children with low vision. However, the legibility research that was at the base of this conception was not always of good quality. In cognitive science for example, many efforts were made that were methodologically correct, yet the test material (typefaces) was unrealistic. On the other hand, typographers themselves introduced many typefaces that were supposed to improve legibility, but the reasoning behind them was hardly ever sufficiently methodologically supported. Moreover, most legibility research focused on people with low vision in general, ignoring the fact that visually impaired children constitute a very particular group with specific issues. This PhD research project approached the issue of legibility for visually impaired beginning readers from a design context. The research is an attempt at bridging the gap between the font designers and the cognitive scientists studying the legibility of letter characters. In the development of the test material, the focus was on parameter design. Parameters are shape characteristics that can be isolated within the same type. Starting from two existing types (one serif, one sans-serif), typefaces were designed based on five parameters that explored the balance between homogeneous and heterogeneous in both form and rhythm. Based on legibility research with test material that conforms to both the scientific and the typographic knowledge in this field, a typeface is proposed that provides support for the target group of visually impaired children in the first stages of the reading process. © World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved.
Background In this paper we present a systematic review of the evidence on the use of social media by people with intellectual disability.Method Ten primary studies published in the English language between January 2000 and June 2014 were identified from electronic database searches (CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and Scopus), correspondence with experts, and citation tracking.Results Nine themes were identified through thematic analysis of the texts: “safety and safeguarding,” “social identity,” “level of usage,” “support,” “relationships,” “happiness and enjoyment,” “communication and literacy skills,” “cyber-language and cyber-etiquette,” and “accessibility/design”.Conclusion Examination of these themes revealed that some people with intellectual disability are having positive experiences using social media in terms of friendships, development of social identity and self-esteem, and enjoyment. However, barriers that stop people with intellectual disability from successfully accessing social media were identified as being safeguarding concerns, difficulties caused by literacy and communication skills, cyber-language, cyber-etiquette, and accessibility (including lack of appropriate equipment).
Page layout is dominant in many genres of physical documents, but it is frequently overlooked in academic analyses of texts and in digitized versions. Its presence is largely determined by available technologies and skills: If no provision is made for creating, preserving, or describing layout, then it tends not to be created, preserved or described. However, I argue, the significance and utility of layout for readers is such that it will survive or reemerge. I review how layout has been treated in the literature of graphic design and linguistics, and consider its role as a memory tool. I distinguish between fixed, flowed, fluid, and fugitive layouts, determined not only by authorial intent, but by technical constraints. Finally, I describe graphic literacy as a component of functional literacy and suggest that corresponding graphic literacies are needed not only by readers, but by creators of documents and by the information management technologies that produce, deliver, and store them.
Cognitive load theory suggests that effective instructional material facilitates learning by directing cognitive resources toward activities that are relevant to learning rather than toward preliminaries to learning. One example of ineffective instruction occurs if learners unnecessarily are required to mentally integrate disparate sources of mutually referring information such as separate text and diagrams. Such split-source infonnation may generate a heavy cognitive load, because material must be mentally integrated before learning can commence. This article reports findings from six experiments testing the consequences of split-source and integrated information using electrical engineering and biology instructional materials. Experiment 1 was designed to compare conventional instructions with integrated instructions over a period of several months in an industrial training setting. The materials chosen were unintelligible without mental integration. Results favored integrated instructions throughout the 3-month study. Experiment 2 was designed to investigate the possible differences between conventional and integrated instructions in areas in which it was not essential for sources of information to be integrated to be understood. The results suggest that integrated instructions were no better than split-source infonnation in such areas. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 indicate that the introduction of seemingly useful but nonessential explanatory material (e.g., a commentary on a diagram) could have deleterious effects even when presented in integrated format. Experiment 6 found that the need for physical integration was restored if the material was organized in such a manner that individual units could not be understood alone. In light of these results and previous findings, suggestions are made for cognitively guided instructional packages.
Universal design and assistive technology present advantages and disadvantages in accommodating the needs of people with disabilities. The best solution may be a combination of the two, using universal design wherever possible and commercially practical and using assistive technologies wherever it is necessary or provides sufficient additional advantage to the user. Three approaches are discussed for the individual who is unable to interact with their world: change the individual, provide them with tools they can use, or change the environment. Examples of each are illustrated using personal workstations and shared, public, and encountered systems. The final decision may rest on commercial practicality, and several new technologies are explored. Ultimately, we need to continue to move forward both on the universal design and the assistive technology fronts if we are to address the needs of people with disabilities and those who are aging.
This study investigated young children's ability to use narrative contexts to infer the meanings of novel vocabulary items. Two groups of 15 seven- to eight-year olds participated: children with normally developing reading comprehension skill and children with weak reading comprehension skill. The children read short stories containing a novel word and were required to produce a meaning for the novel word, both before and after its useful defining context. The proximity of the novel word to this context was manipulated. The results supported the hypothesis that children with weak reading comprehension skills are impaired in their ability to integrate information within a text, particularly when that information is non-adjacent and the processing demands are, therefore, high. Analysis of the error data revealed a similar pattern of types of errors for both groups: children with poor reading comprehension were not more likely to produce a thematically inappropriate response than their skilled peers.
Easy-to-read (ETR) German aims to reduce communication barriers by simplifying both language and content as much as possible. For that purpose, a rigid rule-based practice is commonly used. The main target group are usually people with intellectual disability (ID) but other groups, e.g. functional illiterates, are also often intended addressees. The comprehensibility of ETR German texts, however, still awaits systematic empirical testing. The aim of the present study is to investigate macrotypography as a factor of text comprehensibility across different text types. A sample of individuals with ID and functional illiterates participated in qualitative interviews and was given a multiple-choice procedure in which typical ETR macrotypography and conventional text type macrotypography were compared. The results showed an advantage of the conventional macrotypographic design. In one case the text type was almost as easily recognized when ETR macrotypography was used. The analysis of the qualitative data, however, showed that it was primarily the participants with ID who were able to recognise the text type in this case. The outcome of the study therefore argues that conventional macrotypography may be more advantageous than the macrotypographic practice associated with ETR German.
People with cognitive disabilities are gaining in a long struggle for recognition of their right to control their lives. In the information society, access to the Web is essential to this control. Cognitive barriers to this access are diverse, reflecting the complexity of human cognitive faculties. Advances in supporting configurable presentation and interaction methods, and in representing the meaning as well as the form of information, will yield progress. This progress is being accelerated by increasing international awareness of the importance of cognitive access.
The concept of universal usability brings practical purpose to web accessibility efforts by focusing on enabling diverse populations to successfully and independently use the web for meaningful goals. Design patterns have emerged as a means to capture and standardize research-derived knowledge in the accessible interface and interaction design through presenting definitions and examples of how commonly used interface components can be designed with accessibility in mind. A design system and code library with patterns that incorporate accessibility features is a powerful tool for ensuring people with disabilities benefit from new technologies. Additionally, patterns benefit general usability by improving the learnability and memorability of interaction patterns. Guidelines that encourage or enforce standard interaction patterns, like Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (Apple in Human interface guidelines, 2018), improve user experience and in turn, increase loyalty behaviors such as repurchase and referrals (Hoisington and Naumann in Qual Prog 36(2):33–41, 2003). In this chapter, we reaffirm the relationship between accessibility and universal usability, reflecting on developments since the Universal Usability chapter in the first edition of this book (Horton and Leventhal in Universal usability. Springer, 2008). With today’s more mature technology platform and profession, we explore the use of accessible design guidelines and patterns to provide interactions that are usable by everyone.
With this study we aim at assessing if a mini iPad device is a usable option for digital interaction to perform selection, manipulation, and insertion tasks by people with intellectual disabilities. This study builds on previous studies where usability was evaluated for universal tasks using the keyboard and a mouse input device [1]. This allowed us to assess the usability of a small mini iPad and compare it with other two input devices, namely keyboards and the mouse.
For usability assessment we registered the following variables: successful conclusion of activities, type of difficulties found, errors and satisfaction indicators. The results showed that this group was much motivated to learn how to handle with the iPad, several asked to repeat the task and no one quit any task requested. Despite the number of errors as registered in their interaction, they always knew how to overcome the error and never showed frustration or demotivation. Furthermore, they had a good performance (relation between variables: time to conclude the task, number of errors and difficulties felt) with the mini iPad device, however when compared with the keyboard and mouse, their performance increased.
This paper presents a schema that attempts to embrace all graphic language. The essence of the schema is shown in a matrix which presents a number of theoretical possibilities in terms of approaches to graphic language. One axis of the matrix describes the methods of configuration of graphic language, using such terms as pure linear, linear interrupted, list, linear branching, matrix, non-linear directed, non-linear open. The other axis describes the modes of symbolization of graphic language, using four somewhat crude categories: verbal/numerical, pictorial and verbal/numerical, pictorial, schematic. Numerous, examples are shown to clarify terms and the underlying concepts they describe. It is emphasized that the matrix is a device for directing thinking, rather than a means of defining graphic language.
Gernsbacher (1993; Psychological Science, 4,294-298) reported that less-skilled readers are less able to quickly suppress irrelevant information (e.g., the contextually inappropriate meaning of a homograph, such as the playing-card meaning of spade, in the sentence, He dug with the spade, or the inappropriate form of a homophone, such as patience, in the sentence, He had lots of patients). In the current research, we investigated a ramification of that finding: If less-skilled readers are less able to suppress a contextually inappropriate meaning of a homograph, perhaps less-skilled readers might be better than more-skilled readers at comprehending puns. However, intuition and previous research suggest against this hypothesis, as do the results of the research presented here. On a task that required accepting, rather than rejecting, a meaning of a homograph that was not implied by a sentence context, more-skilled readers responded more rapidly than less-skilled readers. In contrast, on a task that required accepting a meaning of a homograph that was implied by the sentence context, more- and less-skilled readers performed equally well. We conclude that more-skilled readers are more able to rapidly accept inappropriate meanings of homographs because they are more skilled at suppression (which in this case involves suppressing the appropriate meanings).
Adults with learning disability pose an educational challenge for teachers and support workers. They frequently have limited skills in reading and writing, and may find it difficult to pay attention to topics of little interest to them. Nevertheless, they can be keen to use new technology, and often have hobbies and interests that are catered for on the Internet. This article describes a project aimed to highlight the advantages and weaknesses of web-based learning for adults with learning disability, and to suggest improvements. Eight students with mild to moderate learning disability were helped to find websites related to their interests, and supported in creating multimedia work linked to those sites. Results showed the powerfully motivating effect of the websites for students, but highlighted the access difficulties posed by websites for such students. Further work in this area is needed, to develop strategies for exploiting the motivating effect of websites, and to improve the accessibility of sites for people with low literacy levels.
We live at a time when the Internet is used increasingly for communication, for information, and for the exchange of goods and services. Questions arise about how people with learning disabilities make use of this new technology. In this article, Bjorn Harrysson, with two of his colleagues, A. Svensk and G. I. Johansson, from the Department of Design Sciences at the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden, explores the opportunities and difficulties experienced by members of this group when navigating the Internet.
Harrysson, Svensk and Johansson observed seven people, aged between 15 and 44 and with mild to moderate developmental disabilities, as they navigated between different web pages using the general tools of Microsoft Internet Explorer Web Browser. The authors describe some of the strategies that were used for moving within and between web pages and for opening web pages, carrying out searches and finding preferred web sites.
The results of the study are partly optimistic. The people involved made good use of many of the features of the general software. They experienced greater difficulties when it became necessary to use text to navigate and explore the huge potential of the Internet. Harrysson, Svensk and Johansson close their article by making a series of recommendations for developments that would facilitate ease of access and independence in the use of the Internet for people with developmental disabilities.
This pilot study investigated individuals with developmental cognitive disabilities (DCD) navigating W3C accessibility-compliant Web sites and the impact of four cognitive determinants: situation awareness, spatial awareness, task-set switching, and anticipated system response. Participants were placed into one of two search conditions and were asked to complete information-finding tasks. The usability evaluation demonstrated that the majority of users with DCD were able to access the Web but they were unable to successfully use the W3C accessibility-compliant Web sites/. The use of navigation aids was examined, different Web navigation problems were identified as well as user satisfaction and perceived usability. It is clear from this study that current Web accessibility guidelines do not sufficiently address the needs of people with cognitive disabilities. Additional research is needed to understand how cognitive disabilities affect using Web-based media.
Leichte Sprache - Ein Schlüssel zu „Enthinderung“ und Inklusion [Easy-to-read language - a key to ‘re-impairment’ and inclusion
- Valentin Aichele
- Aichele Valentin
The Gap Between Science and Typography. In Design for visual communication: challenges and priorities
- Ann Besssemans
- Besssemans Ann
Best Font for Online Reading: No Single Answer
- Jacob Nielsen
- Nielsen Jacob
Typographic Layout and First Impressions - Testing how changes in text layout influence reader’s judgments of documents
- Jeanne-Louise Moys
- Moys Jeanne-Louise
Design Systems. Smashing Magazine Freiburg
- Alla Kholmatova
Customization of UIs and Products
- Jakob Nielsen
- Nielsen Jakob
QUABIS - Qualifizierung von Bildungs- und Inklusionsreferent*innen [Qualification of education and inclusion officers
- Tu Dresden
- Dresden TU
Leichte Sprache: theoretische Grundlagen, Orientierung für die Praxis [Easy-to-read language. Theoretical foundations. Orientation for practice
- Ursula Bredel
- Christiane Maass
- Bredel Ursula
Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture
- European Commission
Angmessene Kommunikation mit Leichter Sprache und inklusivem Kommunikationsdesign - Überarbeitung der bestehenden Regelwerke [Appropriate communicatio with Easy-to-Read and inclusive communication design - Revision of existing guidelines
- Boris Kochan
Wie leicht darf Leichte Sprache sein? Empirische Lücken in einem gut gemeinten Konzept [How simple can easy-to-read be? Empirical gaps in a well-intentioned concept
- Ursula Christmann
Easy Reading: A Framework for Personalised Cognitive Accessibility when using Original Digital Content
- European Commison
- Commison European
Accessible Design for Users With Disabilities
- Jacob Nielsen
- Nielsen Jacob
10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
- Jakob Nielsen
- Nielsen Jakob
Introduction to Usability
- Jakob Nielsen
- Nielsen Jakob
Designing for Neurodiversity
- Treyce Meredith
- Meredith Treyce
Das ist Leichte Sprache
- Netzwerk Leichte Sprache
- Sprache Netzwerk Leichte