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Subject:Re: "Writing for Dyslexic Readers -Reply From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 16 Jun 1997 13:36:09 -0500
>> I am sure he is too modest to say this <joke> but TECHWR-Ler Tim
>> Altom covered this subject in "Designing for Dyslexics" in the May
>> issue of Intercom. He doesn't provide a formal bibliography, but he
>> does reference a source in his text.
>Ah, is it on-line? If so where?
>Pat Gantt
>pagantt -at- worldnet -dot- att -dot- net
>
It's not online so far as I know. It's not on our Simply Written website
yet, anyway. If anybody can't find the old Intercom I'll try to dig out an
original text version and send it. Remember that it's been edited (and
improved, I must say) by the Intercom staff and it won't be exactly the same.
One thing I did find out doing research for it was that "dyslexia" covers
many, many things that some experts include while others don't. The
color-disorientation problem isn't always considered dyslexia. Having
problems under fluoresent lamps isn't usually part of it either. But you can
always find an expert to diagnose "dyslexia." It's gotten so bad that the
very word has little firm meaning. That's why it's extremely difficult to
write anything absolutely definite about it. Just check out the various
websites about it for examples of its variability.
What shocked me and inspired the article is that, regardless of the
specifics, upwards of twenty percent or so of the adult population can't
read our words well enough to make rapid use of any manual, for reasons
having nothing to do with education. That's before we even get to the
literacy threshold. Throw in semi-literacy, English as a second language,
elevated wording and other factors, and the resulting "de-rate" is utterly
appalling. God only knows how many users can't make use of a manual, any
manual. It could be one-third to one-half of our total readership.
Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
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