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Thread: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy

Number of posts in this thread: 12 (In chronological order)

From: Karen Henry
Date: Mon, Nov 15 2010 12:15PM
Subject: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Has there been any research or does anyone have experience designing a web
site for those with low or no literacy and the best type of graphic symbols
for navigation, etc.?

Thanks.
--
Karen Salisbury Henry
Assistant Director for Communications
The Life Span Institute
The University of Kansas
1052 Dole Human Development Center
1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Room 1052
Lawrence, KS 66045-7555
785 864-0756 fax 785 864-5323
TTY 785 864-5051
lsi.ku.edu

From: Steve Green
Date: Mon, Nov 15 2010 5:27PM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Jonathan Chetwynd used to specialise in that area. However, the work he did
for www.peepo.com has been replaced and I can't find out what he's doing
now.

Steve Green
Test Partners Ltd

From: tom mcCain
Date: Mon, Nov 15 2010 6:00PM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Karen:

As a follow-up to what was mentioned a few minutes ago, Jonathan
Chetwynd worked particularly in the area of web accessibility for
people with cognitive disabilities and I do find that he seems to be
still active, just as he was in the early years of the WAI-IG list. He
spent much time with navigation icons so he may have some insight.

http://www.gawds.org/showmember.php?memberid=617

. . / tom mcCain

____

Cartoon illustrator & web designer focused on rivers, trails, children
and culture
(317) 414-7784 / (317) 251-4992 / Indianapolis
www.crittur.com / crittur.wordpress.com

From: Albert Sluik
Date: Tue, Nov 16 2010 2:06AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Hi all,

Generally I am content to simply follow the conversations, however,

I would be interested if this thread could be broadened on, my interest
is in further developing an accessible local community guide/business
guide here in country australia.

all the best to everyone,

Albert Sluik

On 16/11/10 08:59:47, tom mcCain wrote:
> Karen:
>
> As a follow-up to what was mentioned a few minutes ago, Jonathan
> Chetwynd worked particularly in the area of web accessibility for
> people with cognitive disabilities and I do find that he seems to be
> still active, just as he was in the early years of the WAI-IG list.
> He
>
> spent much time with navigation icons so he may have some insight.
>
> http://www.gawds.org/showmember.php?memberid=617
>
>
>
> . . / tom mcCain
>
> ____
>
> Cartoon illustrator & web designer focused on rivers, trails,
> children
>
> and culture
> (317) 414-7784 / (317) 251-4992 / Indianapolis
> www.crittur.com / crittur.wordpress.com
>
>
>
>
>
>

From: Karen Mardahl
Date: Tue, Nov 16 2010 3:57AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Hi Karen

On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:14 PM, Karen Henry < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Has there been any research or does anyone have experience designing a website for those with low or no literacy and the best type of graphic symbols for navigation, etc.?

Here are 3 resources for symbols and graphical languages that may help you:

+ The Eden Project - http://www.edenproject.com/media/widgit-pr.php

+ Widgit - http://www.widgit.com/

+ Blissymbolics - http://www.blissymbolics.org/

regards, Karen Mardahl
http://twitter.com/stcaccess
&
http://flavors.me/kmdk

From: Carol Wheeler
Date: Tue, Nov 16 2010 7:42AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
<title></title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:14 PM, Karen Henry <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ">< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ></a>
wrote: 
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTik4v0bL+ = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = "
type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Has there been any research or does anyone have experience designing a website for those with low or no literacy and the best type of graphic symbols for navigation, etc.?
</pre>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
 
I find the topic interesting, but am puzzled, how could some one
with "no literacy" use a Web page regardless of what icons are used.
To I misunderstand the term? 
 
<div class="moz-signature">-- Carol 
Carol E. Wheeler 
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = "> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = </a> 
Web Department 
American Institute for Cancer Research 
1759 R Street NW 
Washington DC 20009 
Tel: 202-328-7744 
Fax: 202-328-7226 
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.aicr.org">http://www.aicr.org<;/a>
</div>
</body>
</html>

From: Terrill Bennett
Date: Tue, Nov 16 2010 8:21AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Carol,

Karen's question got me started. I find it interesting in the studies
I've been reading... it seems estimates are that over 43% of the
people in the USA are classified as being "low literacy," according
to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy:
http://nces.ed.gov/naal/

Are they using the web? A google search finds over 389,000 results:
http://www.google.com/search?q=low+literacy+design

They must be using the web - there are numerous articles in those
results that cover design of health-related sites for people with low
literacy!

I'm finding a lot of information which says graphics play an
important part in web design for low literacy. What I'm NOT finding
is research specifically on designing those graphics (Karen's
original question).

A link to get you started, from Jakob Neilsen on "Low-literacy users":
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20050314.html

Enjoy!

-- tb --

At 09:40 AM 11/16/2010, you wrote:
>On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:14 PM, Karen Henry
><mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>>>
>>>Has there been any research or does anyone have experience
>>>designing a website for those with low or no literacy and the best
>>>type of graphic symbols for navigation, etc.?
>
>I find the topic interesting, but am puzzled, how could some one
>with "no literacy" use a Web page regardless of what icons are used.
>To I misunderstand the term?
>
>-- Carol
>
>Carol E. Wheeler
><mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>Web Department
>American Institute for Cancer Research
>1759 R Street NW
>Washington DC 20009
>Tel: 202-328-7744
>Fax: 202-328-7226
><http://www.aicr.org>;http://www.aicr.org
>

From: Carol Wheeler
Date: Tue, Nov 16 2010 9:27AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
I certainly understand folks with low-literacy, or cognitive
problems using the Web. I guess I don't see how the non-literate can
without a literate helper. Perhaps there is a definition of
non-literate/illiterate that is not what I assume it to be. I don't
what to belabor the point, but if you can't read, how much
can good icons help? 
 
<div class="moz-signature">-- Carol 
Carol E. Wheeler 
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = "> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = </a> 
Web Department 
American Institute for Cancer Research 
1759 R Street NW 
Washington DC 20009 
Tel: 202-328-7744 
Fax: 202-328-7226 
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.aicr.org">http://www.aicr.org<;/a>
</div>
</body>
</html>

From: Rachael A Zubal-Ruggieri
Date: Tue, Nov 16 2010 9:39AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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Here are some JOURNAL abstracts that may be of interest. They are not specifically on use of graphics or symbols, but focus on the use of the web by people with cognitive disabilities.

Testing a web information portal for people with learning disabilities

Peter Williams1,*,
Dana Hanson-Baldauf2

Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs
Volume 10, Issue 1, <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jrse.2010.10.issue-1/issuetoc>; pages 42-51, March 2010

This paper contributes to an incremental base of research exploring usability issues related to information and communication experiences and needs of individuals with learning difficulties. A web portal designed specifically with the intended users in mind (i.e. individuals with learning difficulties) has been developed and piloted through a Rix Centre (UEL (University of East London) ) initiative in collaboration with a number of schools and adult service organisations. Seven individuals aged 14-16 years and identified with mild learning difficulties participated in the study. Assessment of findings includes evidence of participant self-directed interest and initiated use of web technologies, recognition and competent utilisation of basic navigation tools, and simple task completion within the web portal itself. Areas of noted interest warranting further exploration include participant behaviour in regard to limited length, depth, and frequency of individual web site browsi
ng; participant difficulty with advanced navigation skills and eye-hand coordination connected to directed cursor movement and mouse manipulation; and web content readability levels. Additionally, further consideration exploring a user's degree of real information acquisition is necessary better to ensure meaningful and relevant web experiences for individuals with learning difficulties.

The use of the Personal Home Page by adults with Down's syndrome as a tool for managing identity and friendship
Jane K. Seale, Centre of Rehabilitation Engineering, Department of Medical Engineering and Physics,
Kings College Hospital, Denmark Hill, SE5 9RX, UK and Rebecca Pockney , School of Health
Professions and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, S017
1BJ, UK
There has been considerable debate regarding whether people with a learning
disability should be encouraged to develop friendships with disabled or nondisabled
people and what influence this might have on their sense of identity. It is also
increasingly recognized that the Personal Home Page is a useful tool for making
contact with potential friends and for managing identity. This paper explores the
extent to which people with Down's syndrome are using Personal Home Pages to
make and maintain friendships and, thus, say something about the self-image they
wish to portray. The Personal Home Pages of five Internet Service Providers were
sampled and 16 Personal Home Pages of adults with Down's syndrome were found
that referred in some way to friendships. A thematic analysis of these pages indicated
that the authors could be attempting to present an image of themselves as someone
who is capable of having friends. Analysis of the guest-book messages also revealed
that the readers of the Home Pages were responding to these attempts at initiating a
relationship. Further work needs to be done to develop the sampling methodology in
order to enable further exploration of what influences the publication of these Home
Pages.

Websites as educational motivators for adults with learning disability
Rachel Johnson and John R. Hegarty
British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 34 No 4 2003 479-486
Adults with learning disability pose an educational challenge for teachers and
support workers. They frequently have limited skills in reading and writing,
and may find it difficult to pay attention to topics of little interest to them. Nevertheless,
they can be keen to use new technology, and often have hobbies and
interests that are catered for on the Internet. This article describes a project
aimed to highlight the advantages and weaknesses of web-based learning for
adults with learning disability, and to suggest improvements. Eight students
with mild to moderate learning disability were helped to find websites related
to their interests, and supported in creating multimedia work linked to those
sites. Results showed the powerfully motivating effect of the websites for students,
but highlighted the access difficulties posed by websites for such students.
Further work in this area is needed, to develop strategies for exploiting
the motivating effect of websites, and to improve the accessibility of sites for
people with low literacy levels.

Web accessibility design recommendations for people with cognitive disabilities
Journal

Technology and Disability<http://iospress.metapress.com/content/103188/?p=79a2929bd9ac4f25bfe47ef805417cfc&;pi=0>

Publisher

IOS Press

ISSN

1055-4181 (Print) 1878-643X (Online)

Issue

Volume 19, Number 4 / 2007<http://iospress.metapress.com/content/q3570241n616/?p=79a2929bd9ac4f25bfe47ef805417cfc&;pi=0>

Pages

205-212

Subject Group

Rehabilitation & Assistive Technology<http://iospress.metapress.com/content/?Subject+Group=Rehabilitation+%26+Assistive+Technology>;

Online Date

Monday, January 07, 2008

Pay-Per-View Copyright Statement<http://public.metapress.com/download/profiles/iospress/pay-per-view-copyright.pdf>;

Authors
Mark G. Friedman1, Diane Nelson Bryen1
1Institute on Disabilities, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Abstract
Web accessibility for people with Cognitive Disabilities has generated increasing interest in the professional web development, scholarly and advocacy communities in recent years, although there is little acknowledged agreement on how to proceed. This article conducts a review of the current understanding of experts in the field as exemplified by Web design guidelines. It provides current Web design recommendations that have achieved a high degree of agreement as well as four recommendations for implementation. Twenty existing Web design guidelines from Web accessibility experts, government and advocacy organizations were identified in an extensive literature review. Those disabilities specifically addressed by these guidelines included: cognitive disabilities (9), cognitive impairments (2), learning disabilities (4), dyslexia (3), aphasia (1), and mental retardation or intellectual disabilities (1). The authors of the Guidelines came from Australia (1), the United Kingdom (7
), and the United States (12). The 20 guidelines contained 187 separate design recommendations which were combined due to duplications and organized for analysis. The top recommendations included: 1) Use pictures, graphics, icons and symbols along with text (75% agreement), 2) Use clear and simple text (70% agreement), 3) Use consistent navigation and design on every page (60% agreement), and 4) Use headings, titles, and prompts (50% agreement).

From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Wed, Nov 17 2010 8:39AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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I've seen some research articles in PubMed<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed>; - have you tried looking there? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed. it's been a while since I was working specifically in the area of communication between Deaf and Hearing persons in the clinical environment, but if I can, I'll replicate my earlier searches or forward articles/citations I'd find.

* Has there been any research or does anyone have experience designing a web site for those with low or no literacy and the best type of graphic symbols for navigation, etc.?

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833
(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
(301) 402-4464 Fax
NIH Section 508 Team: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = or, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html
Looking for Training: AT100 - Section 508 Electronic & IT Training - Phase II: http://training.cit.nih.gov/coursedescription.aspx?courseID=CS0000000000852
Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

From: ckrugman
Date: Thu, Nov 25 2010 7:54PM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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There are many people with certain cognitive disabilities that can use screen reading software and other auditory forms of access. They can also use dictation programs to perform functions as well.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: Carol Wheeler
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy

I certainly understand folks with low-literacy, or cognitive problems using the Web. I guess I don't see how the non-literate can without a literate helper. Perhaps there is a definition of non-literate/illiterate that is not what I assume it to be. I don't what to belabor the point, but if you can't read, how much can good icons help?

-- Carol

Carol E. Wheeler
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Web Department
American Institute for Cancer Research
1759 R Street NW
Washington DC 20009
Tel: 202-328-7744
Fax: 202-328-7226
http://www.aicr.org

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Terrill Bennett
Date: Tue, Nov 30 2010 9:15AM
Subject: Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy
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"Low literacy" doesn't necessarily equate to low intelligence or low
cognitive ability - it could just be someone with an I.Q. higher than
yours, but who's still not fluent in your language.

Here's a tool that could be useful even to those who don't speak
English, but want the tool: Dwell Clicker. The site uses "point
symbols" for the text on the site. For example, hover your mouse over
the words "resting, mouse, over, area, screen or time" in this
description of the tool Dwell Clicker and after a short time, a
picture appears:

http://www.sensorysoftware.com/dwellclicker.html

-- tb --