Page 128 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

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of letters we are capable of perceiving with the naked eye. In 2007 Denis Pelli proved that crowding limits reading speed.
These facts are highly significant in the digital era, when readers face huge amounts of content that our brain is incapable of absorbing, but it is especially important to people with dyslexia. To- day we can harness the potential of technology to redesign the format, spacing, type, margins and headings of digital content, drawing on the capabilities of the human brain, and accordingly overcome reading barriers.62
The Laboratory for Visual Learning is working along these lines, reconsidering the traditional design of reading and seeking innovative engi- neering solutions to make reading more efficient and effective for people. The initiative stemmed from a personal discovery. The director, Matthew H. Schneps, realised that new digital reading devices made it easier for him to read, despite his dyslexia, and carried out a study that monitored his eyes. It proved that shortening lines of text makes it easier to read, chiefly because it causes readers to pay more attention and, accordingly, grasp the content better, in turn promoting greater interest in reading.
The results of this study and other related research have given rise to developments such as Microsoft’s Immersive Reader,63 a free tool for learning and strengthening the practice of reading that is available in different languages (including Spanish) and is incorporated into programmes like Word and OneNote. For practical purposes, it is a visor with the ability to dictate texts. It also underlines certain words (names, verbs or adjectives) and separates them by syllables; it even highlights the word being dictated with shading. These functions are also being used to help boys and girls with dyslexia.
The design of a work influences how the brain processes visual information. Modifying it by means of the different functions digital devices incorporate can help overcome many barriers
to reading, but special formats have emerged to help people with problems accessing print litera- ture: dyslexics, but also blind people and people with impaired sight (many of them elderly)... This is the case of the Daisy format.
Daisy, the format for people who have difficulty accessing print literature
Daisy (Digital Accessible Information System) is
a standard format for audiobooks that enables people who are blind or sight-impaired or have dyslexia, among other problems, to access books. It was developed and is promoted by Daisy Consortium, which is made up of not-for-profit organisations that provide services for blind
and visually impaired people. In 2012 the format became an integral part of the new standard ePub3. The Daisy format is an open standard that anyone can use to make a book accessible.
In books in Daisy format the audio tracks are indexed so that users can easily navigate their content: go to a specific chapter, go to the previous or next page, or advance paragraph by paragraph. It also allows reader to bookmark pages, deal with footnotes, and add alternative speech and optional speech, which they can omit if wished. A book in Daisy format can also contain text that is synchronised with the sound, as well as illustrations and multimedia materials with an audio description.
Books in Daisy format can be read using web browsers like Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. But they are also supported by a broad variety of specific devices and tools, such as the developments of Bookshare, an initiative that will be discussed below, both Bookshare Web Reader for PC and Mac and the apps Read2Go for iOS and Go Read for Android; Capti Narra- tor, also available for PC and Mac and for iOS devices through the related app; and apps for Android and iOS by Voice Dream Reader, among other options.
READERS
Readers in the digital age