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Abstract. Around 10% of the population has dyslexia, a reading disability that negatively affects a person's ability to read and comprehend texts. Previous work has studied how to optimize the text layout, but adapting the text content has not received that much attention. In this paper, we present an eye-tracking study that investigates if people with dyslexia would benefit from content simplification. In an experiment with 46 people, 23 with dyslexia and 23 as a control group, we compare texts where words were substituted by shorter/longer and more/less frequent synonyms. Using more frequent words caused the participants with dyslexia to read significantly faster, while the use of shorter words caused them to understand the text better. Amongst the control group, no significant effects were found. These results provide evidence that people with dyslexia may benefit from interactive tools that perform lexical simplification.

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One Half or 50%? An Eye-Tracking Study of Number Representation Readability

Rello

Bautista

Baeza-Yates

et al. 2013

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Abstract. Are numbers expressed as digits easier to read and understand than written with letters? What about fractions and percentages? Exact or rounded values? We present an eye-tracking study that attempts to answer these questions for Spanish, using fixation and reading time to measure readability as well as comprehension questions to score understandability. We find that digits are faster to read but do not help comprehension. Fractions help understandability while percentages help readability. No significant results were found concerning the influence of rounding. Our experiments were performed by 72 persons, half of them with dyslexia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that addresses the cognitive load of number representation in any language, even more for people with dyslexia.

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Cited by 22 publications

References 2 publications

Technologies for Dyslexia

Technologies for Dyslexia

Frequent Words Improve Readability and Short Words Improve Understandability for People with Dyslexia

One Half or 50%? An Eye-Tracking Study of Number Representation Readability

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