How Can You Make Your Website Dyslexia-Friendly?
Websites open a world of opportunities for information and services in today’s digital world. However, for users with dyslexia—a learning difference that affects reading and understanding of text—web navigation is quite different. Dyslexia users are almost 10-20% of the population, so millions of users are likely to struggle when accessing content that others might breeze through.
In this article we will outline some concrete and actionable steps to create websites accessible for dyslexic users, improving your site’s overall accessibility. Doest matter whether you’re a web developer, designer, or business owner, these practices can benefit all, ensuring the website is usable to everyone, regardless of their reading abilities.
So, what is Dyslexia?
Before getting into the details, it is important to understand what exactly dyslexia. Dyslexia is a neurological problem that primarily affects reading, spelling, and writing. People with dyslexia may experience:
- Difficulty in word identification or recognizing the words.
- Difficulty distinguishing between letters or words that look very similar.
- Difficulty in reading fluently because dense material can be overwhelming.
By keeping these challenges in mind when designing, you can reduce cognitive loads and help dyslexic users navigate your website more easily.
Achieving Website Accessibility with Assistive Technology
Creating a dyslexia-friendly website is a step forward toward making the web experience more inclusive for your users. But if not so, assistive tools can make this process easier for non-accessible websites. You can use an All in One Accessibility tool to simplify accessibility for users with dyslexia and other disabilities. This user-friendly widget is easy to install and allows visitors to customize their experience, adjusting things like fonts and contrast, so they can navigate the website more easily. By integrating tools like these, you can break down barriers and make your site truly accessible.
Here are the steps to Design a website to make it easier for Dyslexia users:
1. Use easy to read Fonts
Font size is one of the most important factors when designing a website that is friendly to people with dyslexia. Some fonts are easier to read for dyslexic users because they reduce confusion between letters. Consider these recommendations:
Sans-serif fonts: Fonts like Arial, Verdana, and Helvetica are preferred because they lack decorative strokes, making them cleaner and easier to read.
Avoid decorative fonts: Cursive or intricate fonts increase cognitive load.
Dyslexia-friendly fonts: Fonts like Open Dyslexic help dyslexic readers by showing weight differentiation between letters.
Also, ensure text is well spaced and not too condensed, as tight spacing can make it harder for dyslexic users to read.
2. Use Clear Text Formatting
Even with a readable font, text needs to be well formatted. Clear, uncluttered text is helpful for users with dyslexia. Remember:
Line Spacing: Use ample line spacing (1.5x or 2x) so lines of text don’t merge together.
Short paragraphs: Breaking up information into smaller paragraphs prevents large blocks of intimidating text.
Avoid justification: Left-align your text and don’t fully justify it—it introduces uneven spaces between words, which can cause visual distortion.
Bold for emphasis: Bold text is more legible for dyslexic users than italicized or underlined text—both latter text treatments create a shape that’s harder to recognize.
Clear formatting benefits all users but is crucial for those with dyslexia.
3. Use Color and Contrast Strategically
Color can be a help or a hindrance for dyslexic users. Good contrast between text and background is key to readability:
High contrast: Ensure good contrast between text and background, like dark text on a light background (or opposite).
Avoid bright, neon colors: These cause visual discomfort and strain. Stick to muted tones.
No busy backgrounds: Avoid patterned backgrounds behind text, which can distract and hinder reading.
Provide a dyslexia-friendly mode that lets users adjust contrast and color to their preference, such as light-yellow backgrounds, which reduce glare.
4. Use simple and Concise language
Be Clear and Straightforward Complex, jargon-laden language can overwhelm dyslexic users. Simplifying content makes it more accessible:
Use Simple sentences: Break down ideas into easily digestible chunks.
Avoid jargon: Stick to plain language, and if necessary, provide definitions.
Use bullet points: Make key points stand out with bullet points or numbered lists and use them to head sections.
Make these changes and more for the dyslexic user, but everyone else will find these practices useful too.
5. Offer Alternative Content Formats
Not everyone processes information best through text. Offering alternative formats ensures dyslexic users can engage with your content:
Text-to-speech: Allow users to listen to content, especially helpful for long-form articles, blogs, or guides.
Captioned videos: Always include captions in video content to make it accessible to everyone.
Offering various formats helps all types of learners engage with your website.
6. Enhance Website Navigation
There are a few rules that should be followed: Keeping this in mind, dyslexic users need a clear and easy navigation system. Multilayered menus and numerous links will only confuse them:
Descriptive labels: Use descriptive text for links and buttons. For example, “Contact Us” rather than “Click Here.”
Logical organization: Material arranged logically into groupings, with clear headings and subheadings apparent to the reader.
Consistent navigation: Keep consistent navigation on your website so that users will not be confused by their movements.
This helps reduce cognitive effort, benefiting both dyslexic and non-dyslexic users.
7. Let Users Customize Their Experience
There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in web design, and certainly not for users with a specific need like dyslexia. Customization options will enable users to tailor the site according to their preferences:
Resizable text: Allow users to increase or decrease the size of text.
Dyslexia-friendly mode: Similar to high-contrast modes for low-vision users, offer a dyslexia-friendly mode with adjustable fonts, colors, and spacing.
Reader mode: Assist in distraction-free reading, avoiding ads and pop-ups.
Allowing users control over their web experience is key to inclusive design.
8. Test with Dyslexic Users
Best practices are great to follow, but the only way to ensure that your site is dyslexia-friendly is by testing it on people with dyslexia. Coupling platforms with special services for accessibility testing can realize real feedback from users in such a way as to make sure any design decision made counts and has the proper impact.
Conclusion: Web accessibility as a universal design feature
In essence, to make a website dyslexia-friendly means making the digital environment not only accessible through added functions but also inclusive and friendly to all users. Following these principles of dyslexia-friendly design, you can enhance the experience for a very large portion of your audience and improve the usability, engagement, and reach of your site.
Inclusivity is a journey. Always be open to feedback, stay abreast of best practices, and relentlessly enhance your website for all kinds of user needs. Accessible websites are better websites for everybody.
Featured image by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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