Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that affects the ability to read and write. It affects around 1 out of 10 people around the world, including 30 million adults in the U.S. While there is no cure for dyslexia, you can manage it effectively by using appropriate accommodations and interventions. One such accommodation is creating a dyslexia-friendly website. In this article, we will explore some tips for creating a dyslexia-friendly website.
Make better font choices
While some websites advise you to use Sans Serif fonts because they are supposedly easier to read for people with dyslexia, their simplicity and uniform shape might contribute to slower reading speeds. The lowercase letter pairs “d” and “b” and “p” and “q” are mirror images of each other, which leads to confusion on the part of the reader. Instead, use a specially designed dyslexia-friendly font in your content.
These fonts are designed to reduce the confusion caused by near-identical characters. For example, the lowercase “d” could have a different weight or extra strokes compared to the lowercase “b”. Most dyslexia-friendly fonts are available free of charge and are easily integrated into different web platforms. Using a large font size is also recommended for people with dyslexia. Experts suggest using a font size of at least 14pt for better visibility and readability. You should also avoid underlining and italicizing text as it could cause letters to appear crowded together. If you wish to emphasize a word or phrase, use boldface instead.
Make your text easier to see
Studies show that people with dyslexia often encounter issues with reading black text on a
bright white background. Using background patterns or pictures also keeps these readers from understanding the text.To help readers understand your text better, steer clear of bright white or patterned backgrounds. Instead, use another light background, such as cream or a soft pastel color, to improve visibility and reduce eye strain. You can also consider high-contrast colors such as yellow. However, you should avoid using a pairing of green or red/pink as these colors might render text invisible to people with color vision deficiencies.
Keep your thoughts short and organized
People with dyslexia often struggle with long sentences and large paragraphs. They also need help with navigating through content, especially for longer articles. First, organize your points into bullet points to break up text into more manageable chunks. Using simple language can also improve readability for everyone, not just people with dyslexia. Avoiding jargon, technical terms, idioms, and metaphors helps lower the barrier to understanding your content.Next, use headings to break up long blocks of paragraphs.
If you are not using a word processor that allows you to create headings, make your headings 20% larger than the body text. This will not only help people with dyslexia find sections that are relevant to them; it will also help visually impaired readers who use screen readers.
Help screen readers interpret your content
Many people with dyslexia use screen readers to help them understand text content. Aside from adding headings and breaking down text into sections, there are other things you can do to help screen readers process your content for their users. Providing a text-to-speech option can be a valuable tool for people with dyslexia. While many readers have their own screen reader software, adding a text-to-speech plugin will help those who might not be aware that they have dyslexia. It will also benefit people with visual impairments. Adding alt text to images can also improve readability.
Alt text is a description of an image that appears when the browser cannot display the image. This can be useful for people with dyslexia, who may struggle to understand the meaning of an image without a description. It is important to ensure that alt text is concise and accurately describes the image.
Parting Words
In conclusion, creating a dyslexia-friendly website involves making a few simple changes to improve readability and accessibility for users with dyslexia. By choosing dyslexia-friendly font options, using high-contrast text and background combinations, using bullet points and headings, and making your text readable by screen readers, you can make your website more inclusive and accessible for all users.