Using Mobile Screens To Make Reading Easier For Dyslexics

Image Source: Cypress Interactive

A recent study is testing a theory where reading text on an iPad or iPhone is more beneficial for people with dyslexia.

Using a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Matthew Schneps and researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Institute for Astrophysics are looking into the effects of dyslexics’ reading comprehension from smaller screens.

Schneps is a dyslexic himself, and finds it easier to read long documents on his iPhone, where the text is enlarged and squeezed into one column. The research he and his colleagues are working on, which will be published in the next one or two years, is based on previous research that found that dyslexics have superior peripheral vision than non-dyslexics.

In the study that Schneps is working on, which applies the previous research to mobile devices, students read books via the app GoodReader, that enlarges the text to 42-point font to allow only a few words on the screen at a time.

Schneps calls his method Span-Limiting Tactile Reinforcement (SLTR), where “manually moving the text aids concentration. It also lets readers keep their gaze fixed at the top of the iPod instead of scanning the entire screen, which could introduce distractions.”

To read the more about the study, visit Fast Coexist.