Developing inclusive lateral layouts for students with dyslexia – Chinese reading materials as an example

Abstract

Background/aimStudents with learning disabilities have difficulties in reading abilities; however, their IQ is no less than that of ordinary students of the same age. This study investigated and developed three articles as the author and schoolteachers developed reading materials. Article A is with a standard layout; Article B is with keywords of various font sizes, and Article C is with a related illustration. MethodsData of eye movements and reading tests from thirty students wherein 15 participants have dyslexia were collected. An eye-tracking methodology was employed to assess the dyslexics' students reading patterns and behavior. ResultsANOVA analysis shows differences in reading test performance among students for Article A with usual layout [F (1, 28) = 133.16, p = 0.000], but no significant differences for the other two articles. Based on the gaze map analysis, Article C (with illustration) can improve the reading completeness of the dyslexic students (eight out of fifteen dyslexic students had completed the reading during our experiment) than Article A and Article B. ConclusionThe results affirm that special layouts and narrative writing styles can improve the reading attention of students with dyslexia. This study's results and conclusions can reference future teaching materials or lesson preparation using lateral layouts for people with dyslexia.