Gerd Berget

Dyslexic students in higher education and virtual learning environments: an exploratory study

This paper presents the results of an interview-based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the interview. The findings reveal that dyslexic students experience a number of challenges associated with VLE use, including information overload, imperfect word processing tools, inadequate search functions, and having to relate to more than one system at a time.

Do autocomplete functions reduce the impact of dyslexia on information-searching behavior? The case of Google

Dyslexic users often do not exhibit spelling and reading skills at a level required to perform effective search. To explore whether autocomplete functions reduce the impact of dyslexia on information searching, 20 participants with dyslexia and 20 controls solved 10 predefined tasks in the search engine Google. Eye‐tracking and screen‐capture documented the searches. There were no significant differences between the dyslexic students and the controls in time usage, number of queries, query lengths, or the use of the autocomplete function. However, participants with dyslexia made more misspellings and looked less at the screen and the autocomplete suggestions lists while entering the queries. The results indicate that although the autocomplete function supported the participants in the search process, a more extensive use of the autocomplete function would have reduced misspellings. Further, the high tolerance for spelling errors considerably reduced the effect of dyslexia, and may be as important as the autocomplete function.

Is visual content in textual search interfaces beneficial to dyslexic users

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterised by problems with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities. Although several studies have addressed dyslexia and Web accessibility, less is known about how dyslexia affects information search. This study investigated whether the inclusion of icons in search user interfaces enhances performance among dyslexics. A total of 21 dyslexics and 21 controls completed 52 search tasks in 4 conditions: icons only, words only, and both icons and words in a grid layout and a list layout, while eye movements were recorded. Dyslexics took significantly longer than controls to locate targets in tasks containing text, but not in the icon-only condition. Dyslexics had longer fixation durations than controls in both icon and text based search arrays, suggesting higher mental load associated with search tasks generally. The addition of words to icon arrays led to faster search times within controls, but not dyslexics. Dyslexics also exhibited more fixations on dual-modality tasks, and longer scanpaths than controls in list layout. Both groups were fastest searching the list layout, with icons and words listed in columns. Results are discussed in terms of the design of accessible search interfaces for dyslexic users, taking into account mental load of dual-modality information display, and the arrangement of search items. Empirical data is provided for the design of accessible search results interfaces for dyslexics. HighlightsDyslexics are generally slower in visual search arrays containing text.Including icons in arrays seems distracting for both dyslexics and controls.Including icons in lists seems beneficial to performance generally.Content mode and layout interact to effect search performance in dyslexia.

The Effect of Dyslexia on Searching Visual and Textual Content: Are Icons Really Useful?

Little is known about how dyslexia affects online information seeking. This study addresses the search performance of 21 users with dyslexia and 21 controls in textual versus visual displays. The aim was to investigate whether visual content enhance search performance. Participants were presented with 24 icons and 24 words and asked to locate a target item. Eye-tracking data revealed no differences in performance in visual or textual content in the dyslexia group. There were no significant differences between the user groups on visual tasks. However, users with dyslexia performed significantly slower on textual tasks than controls, mainly due to longer fixation durations. Users in the control group took much less time solving textual tasks than visual tasks. The results indicate that there may be no advantages in replacing textual content with icons for users with dyslexia. However, replacing text with icons may be counterproductive for users without dyslexia.

“I’m not Stupid” - Attitudes Towards Adaptation Among People with Dyslexia

A significant portion of the population have dyslexia, which is commonly associated with reading and writing difficulties. In the context of developing materials well-suited for users with reading disorders, one solution has been to develop materials especially targeted at dyslexic users. However, how are the attitudes among users with dyslexia towards adaptation? In this paper, we report the findings from qualitative interviews with 20 adults with dyslexia. The main finding was that they were sceptical towards adapted products, among others because it made them “feel stupid” and because the adapted format affected the reading experience negatively. In this paper we argue to instead work within the universal design paradigm, trying to develop products and services usable by all people, thus reducing the need for particular user groups to utilise “special solutions”.

On the Understandability of Public Domain Icons: Effects of Gender and Age

Icons and symbols are often deployed in graphical user interfaces. It is commonly believed that icons add to the user friendliness of products. Developers have great trust in icon libraries and they are likely to use icons they understand themselves without verifying users’ understanding. Interfaces relying on icons that are misinterpreted can lead to erroneous operation. In this study a set of icons in the public domain was interpreted by 64 participants to assess how well general icons are understood. Of the 105 icons included only 67 were correctly identified by all the raters. The results confirm that some basic icons are universally known. However, nearly half of the icons where not identified by all. Recognition correlated with gender, as males were more likely to identify icons connected to masculine concepts and females were more likely to recognize icons connected to feminine concepts. Moreover, a positive correlation was found between the age of the participants and icons depicting ideas from the past versus timeless icons. The results thus support the practice of user testing of icons rather than relying on assumptions.