HOW MIGHT WE IMPROVE THE LIVES OF PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES BY CREATING MORE INCLUSIVE
DISABILITIES BY CREATING MORE INCLUSIVE
DIGITAL EXPERIENCES?
What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning processing disorder that can affect all forms of language,
spoken or written.
Dyslexia causes only one part of the brain to activate when reading or articulating letters while a non-dyslexic brain is firing from three different locations. The areas of the brain that are not being activated handle the memorization of repetitive words and the analyzation of new words.
Through our research we found that most apps that target dyslexia and other reading disabilities are marketed for children who are just learning to read but not for adults.
At this time there are no apps on the market that actually try and solve the mismatch that dyslexic adults face when trying to function in the real world.
Our Solution
Dyslexia Aid was created to lessen the mismatch that dyslexic people face on a daily bases. The app allows the user to fully customize how words and letters are displayed on the screen. Therefore making their entire phone easier to read and giving them power over their disorder.
App Breakdown
Bold and Large Text
Dyslexia affects word memorization and letter identification. Social experiments show dyslexic individuals find that bolding text makes letters easier to read and differentiate. Enlarging text makes reading for long periods of time less taxing on the eyes and also helps with making the overall content easier to read.
Spacing and Emphasize Letters
Another issue that many dyslexic people have is the blending of words or the loss of spaces. Therefore, Dyslexia Aid has a spacing function that allows the user to change the leading and kerning of displayed content.
Some people will only have issues mixing up certain characters so we added an emphasize letter function. In this function, users are able to click the characters that they would like to have bolded and only that character will be emphasized for them.
Reading Aid and Change Font
Most dyslexic people find it easier to read if they are able to hear and see the material. Our reading aid function allows users to enable an on hover text-to-speech action. This means that a user can drag their finger over a line of text and the text will be read aloud in real time.
The change font function completely changes the font used on the phone to a dyslexic friendly version. There isn't scientific evidence saying that dyslexic fonts help people read better but most dyslexic people find the fonts useful.
There are four available options for users to choose from and the change is universal all across the phone. Meaning that all apps on the phone will be changed therefore making the entire phone more accessible to the user.
User Experience
Dyslexia Aid would remedy Celeste's constant feeling of burn out by making content easy to read and understand. She would be given even more control over her disorder and be able to customize her phone for what she needed.
Even though dyslexic adults were our target demographic, Dyslexia Aid would be beneficial for any age group. Reading is one of the first subjects that children are taught in school and when a child starts showing signs of dyslexia, their self-confidence can take a massive hit.
They may become embarrassed at not being able to meet the same markers that their peers blow through and begin doubting their intelligence. If a dyslexic child started out with a phone that was completely catered to their disorder then the "wall of exclusion" is lowered and they are able to grow in an environment that is curated for them.
Dyslexia Aid cannot take away dyslexia but it can create an environment that is more comfortable and give people power over their disorder.
See Actual Prototype
https://www.figma.com/proto/QEVjgO42LLPUCFPszcA34f/Untitled?node-id=2%3A2&scaling=scale-down&page-id=0%3A1&starting-point-node-id=2%3A2&show-proto-sidebar=1
