Presentation for a workshop at the BDA International Conference 2014, Guildford.

1. , Alternative
Formats and Affordable
Technologies for Dyslexic
Readers
Dominik Lukeš
BDA International Conference 2014

2. What technology do you use to
support your learners?
Help to improve literacy skills?
Help in their every-day access to text?

3. What do we know about reading
difficulties?
Many children are able to understand
but just cannot read
 This leads to learnt helplessness
 Inability to access text effects
behaviour and attendance
There is a need to develop
independence from both the learner and
the school

4. What is the answer?
Research has demonstrated that the use
of accessible formats can support
pupils with a print disability in becoming
independent learners, reducing their
reliance on adult support.

5. Key new terms to remember
 Print disability: New term covering
existing disabilities and reflected in
copyright regulation.
 Accessible documents: Can be modified
to suit learners’ needs and can be
converted into alternative formats.

6. Print disability – what is it?
What do you understand when you hear the
words “print disability”?

7. Definition and legal provisions
for print disabilities
“A print-disabled person is anyone for whom
a visual, cognitive or physical disability
hinders the ability to read print. This
includes all visual impairments, dyslexia,
and any physical disabilities that prevent
the handling of a physical copy of a print
publication.” -- CLA License
(CLA License, http://www.cla.co.uk/data/pdfs/print_disability/cla_guidelines_for_the_pdl_aug10.pdf)

8. Key provisions
Make an accessible copy of a document
for a print disabled person under the CLA
PD Licence
Accessible document: large print,
electronic copy, audio version (MP3), Braille
Unless a commercial alternative exists
Not derogatory or changing author’s
intention
Must own physical copy of the book

9. Question for teachers:
How many print disabled
students are there in an average
classroom?

10. Accessible documents
1. Modification of font colour, font type, font
size, background colour (PDF, Word)
2. Structured documents with easy
navigation (Word, PDF)
3. Changing a sense to audio
Audio books
Text-to-speech (Voices, Software)
Audio and text linked (DAISY,
WordTalk)

11. Introducing Load2Learn
Project to create an online resource of
downloadable adapted (secondary) curriculum
books and images for learners with print
disabilities.

12. Load2Learn (free for schools)

13. Curriculum Documents (textbooks)

14. Simplified images
Simplified tactile images (not just for
visually impaired)

15. Training Materials
http://load2learn.org.uk/training/

16. Cue Cards for
Computer
Productivity and
accessibility
http://Load2Learn.org.uk/training/cuecards

17. Solution 1:
Text and document modification
Font choice
Font size
Screen zoom
Text colours
Line spacing
Alignment

18. E-books
eReading Devices
Kindles, Tablets,
Phones

19. Reading on e-Readers
Response from student in study carried out by
Larson (2010) into the use of e-books:
"I would rather read an e-book [than a regular
book] because there are so many cool tools to
use and choose from. I still haven't used them all,
and I'm done with the book."

20. Opportunities from e-Readers
‘Digital readers show promise in supporting
struggling readers through multiple tools and
features, including manipulation of font size,
text-to-speech options, expandable dictionary,
and note capabilities.’ (Larson, 2010, p.15).

21. Evidence for Kindles and iPods
‘reading that is done on a Kindle or listened to
on an iPod is just as valid and valuable as
reading printed texts’ (Moyer, 2011, p.255)
‘[teachers can] offer their adolescent students
another medium to read and experience literature in
their classrooms. With the availability of iPods and
similar audio devices, bringing the audiobook into
the classroom becomes very simple and
inexpensive’ (Wolfson, 2008, p.111).

22. Solution 2: Structured
documents
All sections have
titles marked with
Heading styles
Word documents,
PDFs, Web Pages

23. Structured documents save lives
Navigate
Outline
Map

24. Structured documents big picture

25. Solution 3a: Audio – Reading
with your ears

26. Evidence for Audio Books
Boys found audio-reading enjoyable and
their self-confidence as readers improved.
‘a marked reduction in the quantity of errors
… when reading independently’
The boys found audio reading was
relatively effortless yet they perceived that
they were reading books appropriate to
their age and could read ‘hard words’ like
their peers (Byrom, 1998, p.5)

27. Audio books and performance
The effects of a CD-ROM audio textbook on
the academic performance of secondary
students in history lessons: using the audio
text students ‘performed significantly
higher on context area assessments than
students in the control condition’ (Boyle et al,
2003, p. 203).

28. Audio books in the classroom
Furthermore, teachers that participated in the study
also reported the benefits of student’s utilising
audio-books within a classroom environment:
‘Students used the technology to access additional
history readings as well as other available
relevant academic textual material (e.g. additional
history text, other subjects such as science and
citizenship). This technological support allowed the
teachers to provide greater assistance to
students experiencing difficulties accessing higher-
level print material’ (Boyle et al, 2003, p.213).

29. Audio books at home
parents reported that audio-books appeared
to have ‘a positive influence in reducing
emotional– behavioural problems’
and that the use of audio-books within the
home environment appeared to reduce their
child’s sense of frustration and
distractibility attributed to greater ease in
studying. (Milani et al, 2003, p.93)

30. Audio as spectacles
‘By the same token that some children require
spectacles to enable them to read a book,
others may require an audio tape to enable
them to read the same book in order that they
might all contribute to a stimulating discussion
about the content’ (Byrom, 1998, p. 6)
‘Today some of these people with dyslexia even
regard the computer as their equivalent to the
glasses of the weak-sighted’. (Tank &
Frederikson, 2007, p.947)

31. Portable audio
Portable audio devices
(phones, MP3 players, iPods)

32. Audio notetaking
Speech recognition and other ways of
audio note taking
(Nuance, AudioNotetaker, PulsePen)

33. Evidence for audio note taking
‘By using the note tool, they engaged in new
literacy practices by envisioning new ways to
access their thought processes to engage in
spontaneous, instantaneous response to the e-
books’ (Larson, 2009, p. 256)

34. What do you do for your learners?
Do you recommend your students
audio books?
podcasts?

35. What do you do for yourself?
Do you listen to
audio books?
podcasts?

36. Solution 3b: Text to speech
Synthetic voice
(Anna, Brian, Jess,
Jack, …)
Reader software
(Balabolka, WordTalk)

37. Evidence for text to speech
Students took their SQA standard grade
examinations in ‘Accessible PDF’ format.
 Staff praised “independence offered by
the electronic format.”
 Students “all found them easier to use
than a scribe.”
 “mean score was 8.93 compared with
8.00 for scribes.” (Nisbet et al, 2005, p.1)

38. More evidence for text to speech
Text to speech can ‘relieve the burden of
decoding for struggling readers, allowing them
to focus on comprehension.’ (Wise, Ring, and
Olson, 2000).
students ‘could double or triple the time that
they could sustain reading’ (Elkind et al, 1996,
p.160).

39. Solution 3c: Text and audio
linked
Structured document
linking audio and
text.
Text is highlighted in
sync with audio

40. Evidence for DAISY
‘Research by Allinder, Dunse, Brunken, and
Obermiller-Krolikowski (2001) and Meyer
and Felton (1999) confirms that highlighting
text as it is spoken can help learners pay
attention and remember more’ (cited in
Silver-Pacuilla and Fleischman, 2006, p. 84)

41. More evidence for DAISY
Lewandski and Montali (1996) studied ‘the
learning of poor readers and skilled readers who
were both taught through a text-to speech
application with simultaneous on-screen
highlighting of the spoken word’ and found that
experiencing the text bimodally (visually and
aurally) enabled poor readers to perform as
well as skilled readers in word recognition
and retention.

42. WordTalk Free and Easy Solution