Readability of the materials – what does accessibility really mean today?

Moving on from the previous post on readability – let's talk more about accessibility and what this really means to each of us.

We vary in our likes and dislikes on what makes it easier and more accessible for us to read material depending on our ability to read, our visual processing skills, visual acuity and also the environment we are in when undertaking the tasks (e.g. background lighting).

However, you often see somewhat over-simplistic approaches such as a standard approach suggesting to print all materials on buff paper and printing with blue ink as this is the thing that is seen to be ‘Dyslexia friendly’. While the general approach is a good one, in reality, some people with Dyslexia may prefer different contrasting colours and what works for one, doesn’t necessarily work for all.

 The main thing to consider for printed materials is that high contrast can make pages more difficult to read. So bright white, or high gloss is generally harder to read. Bigger font is easier than a smaller font. Certain font styles are generally easier to read than others.

https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/common/ckeditor/filemanager/userfiles/About_Us/policies/Dyslexia_Style_Guide.pdf

What else is there to consider?

The layout of the page can make the reading material easier as well. The spacing between lines and margins can make it easier to scan the words. With the advent of e-book readers and computers, making many of these changes has become much easier. You can now change font size and type at the press of a button. Technology also allows you when reading on a screen to change the reading layout- one or 2 pages at a time, zoom in, change colour backgrounds – these are standard in Macs and in Microsoft Office.

Here are some links to see how to make these changes:

• Changing background colour in Word - dotr.im/dqr06
• Changing background colour in a pdf - dotr.im/dqr46
• How to change system colours - dotr.im/dqr47

Changing the font type

In Word, you can easily change the font.

• Try the ‘sans serif” fonts such as Arial, Trebuchet, Verdana or Calibri ( as used on this page) as they can often be easier to read. Other people like Comic Sans.
• You cannot change the font in a pdf. If you convert the pdf to a Word document then the font and style can be changed.
• Converting a pdf to a Word document - dotr.im/dqr49
• Online pdf converter - dotr.im/dqr50 ?

Type Size

• You can make text bigger in an electronic document by using the zoom.
• How to zoom in Word - dotr.im/dqr52
• How to zoom in a browser - dotr.im/dqr51 
• Line Spacing - dotr.im/dqr53

Future posts will discuss using a range of software to aid accessibility.

 For more advice for your company about  delivering accessible documentation and providing training on providing reasonable adjustments for Dyslexia, DCD (Dyspraxia), ADHD etc,  please contact us at www.doitprofiler.com