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ERIC Number: EJ1251705
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Apr
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0736-9387
EISSN: N/A
Inter-Letter Spacing, Inter-Word Spacing, and Font with Dyslexia-Friendly Features: Testing Text Readability in People with and without Dyslexia
Galliussi, Jessica; Perondi, Luciano; Chia, Giuseppe; Gerbino, Walter; Bernardis, Paolo
Annals of Dyslexia, v70 n1 p141-152 Apr 2020
Over the last years, several studies have suggested a possible link between dyslexia and deficits in low-level visual processing (e.g., excessive crowding). At the same time, specially designed "dyslexia-friendly" fonts appeared on the market. This class of fonts presents two main features: the particular graphic characteristics of the letterform designed to avoid confusion between similarly shaped letters, and wider inter-letter and inter-word spacing to limit crowding. The literature testing the efficacy of "dyslexia-friendly" fonts in improving reading accuracy and increasing reading speed is controversial. We evaluated the impact of letterform (with vs. without dyslexia-friendly graphic features), inter-letter spacing (standard vs. increased), and inter-word spacing (standard vs. increased) on reading accuracy and speed. Two groups of 64 children each, with and without dyslexia, read aloud 8 equivalent texts. The data collected failed to show any effect from the letterform. As regards spacing, the data showed that reading speed is impaired by an increase in inter-letter spacing not combined with an adequate increase in inter-word spacing.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A