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Re: Graphic symbols for people with low or no literacy

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From: Rachael A Zubal-Ruggieri
Date: Nov 16, 2010 9:39AM

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).