We were talking the other day about my reading. It is not great. These days my visual span – how much text I can see essentially at a glance – and my discrimination both contribute to slowing my speed and reducing my comprehension.
As I have said before, I can read a few pages here and there. I just no longer do any recreational reading. Audiobooks all the way for this girl.
I found some information on reading rates at perkinselearning.org. This 2017 article about children’s reading reported research findings that large print readers are 1.5 to 2.0 slower than average readers of comparable age. There is no research available comparing acuity and reading rate but anecdotal evidence suggests, as one would expect, lower acuity leads to slower rates. The article also stated “reading” with compressed speech is slower than “excellent” readers’ speeds. In other words, I cannot read as fast as I could before even with the book doing the reading!
So, how might someone write to help a VIP with her reading speed and comprehension? Lin suggested I might want to write a page on writing for the visually impaired. It sounded like an interesting idea but all I found online for references were about teaching visually impaired children how to write. That is not exactly what we had in mind.
I must admit I don’t always write the sort of stuff I would like to read. I like short and concise when I read. When I write, I get carried away. Dependent and independent clauses. This kind of phrase and that kind of phrase. Interjections!
Oh, well…no one is perfect. I write the way I write but if you find any research suggesting a better way, let me know.
What I did find, though, was a review of writing tools, specifically keyboards. Steven John writing for wiki.ezvia.com in January, 2019 came up with six suggestions for the best keyboards for the visually impaired.
Of the six John suggests, large characters on the keys and/ or ultra bright colors appear to be the two, main, adaptive features. That color, by the way, would be fluorescent yellow.
I was pleased to see the keyboard they rated as number one was the keyboard I have for my office computer. This one is the EZSee Low Vision. I got two of them from my technology person from Blindness and Visual Services. That was three years ago and one is still functional.
Having only one be functional after three years may not sound great to you but my tech guy got them at the “Good Stuff Cheap” place for $4 apiece. Remember as VIPs we make up a small fraction of the population. Stuff we think is a godsend may be looked upon by a store manager as a stupid buy and something to send to the liquidator asap. If you can, be sure to check the merchants who sell overstocks and other assorted “trash” first. There can be gold in them there aisles!
Otherwise, my vision searing, fluorescent yellow keyboard can be purchased for $18 plus tax and shipping through Amazon. It got four out of five stars. [Lin/Linda: if you don’t want to buy a new keyboards, I got stickers that are bright yellow with bold, black letters from Maxiaids.com for $12.95 now but I think I paid less. They regularly run sales so watch for them.]
So, back to the original questions. What is happening with your reading? What type of writing is easiest for you to read? Let’s start the discussion.
Written February 10th, 2019