The following blog is by Aurora Betony.
I am a dyslexic adult. I write self-help resources for dyslexic adults. My newest resource is a guide on how to write dyslexia-inclusive material. This guide is not about how to design a dyslexia-inclusive document e.g. size of font, typeface, line spacing. There’s already plenty of good guidance available on that[1]. My guide is about how to make the language of a written document accessible for dyslexic people. My guide is in 2 sections:
- Plain English e.g. sentence length, word length, choice of vocabulary.
- Other aspects of language and style such as figures of speech, concrete communication and explicitness.
The guide is called ‘Writing for a Dyslexic Audience’
With one exception, the sources I have used for ‘Writing for a Dyslexic Audience’ are by specialists in dyslexia or language. I’ve pulled together their guidance in 1 resource for 2 reasons:
- Ease of reference
- No-one else has presented it all together, as guidance on how to write for a dyslexic audience.
[1] For designing your written material in a dyslexia-inclusive way, I recommend the following 3 resources:
- Dyslexia Scotland’s leaflet ‘Dyslexia friendly formats’ http://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/our-leaflets
- CALL Scotland’s ‘Accessible Text: Guidelines for Good Practice’ http://www.callscotland.org.uk/downloads/Books/accessible-text-guidelines-for-good-practice
- The British Dyslexia Association Dyslexia Friendly Style Guide http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/educator/additional-resources-for-educators