Dyslexia: notes from the field is a presentation by Lisa Matthews about her experiences living with dyslexia. It is presented in a slide format but also as a durational artwork. The presentation includes 6 sections: a definition of dyslexia, how dyslexia affects Matthews day-to-day, describing dyslexia as not always a superpower, things not to say to someone with dyslexia, things that help those with dyslexia, and discussing both good and not-so-good design experiences. Matthews hopes sharing her experiences can help increase awareness of dyslexia on Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
6. people in the UK
have some form of disability
21%
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attach
ment_data/file/791271/family-resources-survey-2017-18.pdf
7. • Disability is more common than you
may think
• We will all experience some kind of
disability at some point
• By the age of 45, most of us will need
glasses
• Yet many websites do not support
dynamic text
• Many people on iPhone use “Large
Text”; a lot of apps aren’t compatible
8. Even if you never edit a website, you have the option to improve
accessibility every time you:
Tweet
Post on Facebook
Build a PowerPoint slide show
Write a blog post…
And even if you never do those things, you can influence those who
do.
https://alt-text-as-poetry.net/
9. Alternative text provides a textual alternative to non-text content (for example images)
in web pages
This text can be provided on the page in descriptions around non-text content
Alt text is alternative text provided in HTML code as an “alt” attribute
Alt text is read out by screen readers so that screen reader users can access the image
“Adding alternative text for images is the first principle of web accessibility”
https://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/
10. alt="Two hexagon shaped photographs
with a smaller picture slightly overlaid by
a larger picture. In the small picture,
people are grouped around a table
chatting and drinking tea. In the larger
picture, a ginger haired white man is sat
down, concentrating, and looking at a
laptop."
13. • How would you describe the
image?
• Type your answers in the chat
14. • Here it is again with some context
• Does this change your approach?
• Answer in the chat
15.
16. I was reminded of the idea of alt text as poetry by my colleague Lisa (poet and Content
Designer at Nexer)
She sent me this site: https://alt-text-as-poetry.net/ created by disabled activists and
artists Bojana Coklyat and Shannon Finnegan (I wrote to them to ask if I could use their
materials*)
I can’t hope to cover all of it today, please check it out
*They said yes, the materials are also available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
International License.
17. • Attention to language
• Word economy
• Experimental spirit
18. • What words are we using?
• What are their connotations?
• What is the tone of our writing (the way in which we’re doing the writing)?
• What is the voice (who the reader hears)?
• How do these align with, or contrast, the tone and perspective of the image?
19. • Alt-text usually aims for brevity
• For most images, one to two sentences will do
• Poetry has a lot to teach us about paring down language to create something
that is expressive, yet concise
20. • There are lots of complex and interesting questions that come up when
translating visual information into text
• We need to try out different ways of doing this, learning from each other's
strategies and techniques
21.
22. Part 1
• Choose one of the images on the right
• In the chat, list things (objects, people,
stuff, nouns) that are present in the image
or related to the image.
• Aim to write 5 words, but if you are on a
roll, write as many as come to mind.
Part 2
• List descriptive words or adjectives that
describe the image, a part of the image, or
your response to it. How does it make you
feel? What’s the mood of the image? What
associations do you have?
• Again, aim to write 5 words, but if you are
on a roll, write as many as come to mind.
23. With the same image
• In the chat, write a single sentence to
describe the image. The sentence should
capture whatever you think is most important
about the image.
• Now write a second sentence about the
second most important thing in, or about, the
image.
• Write a third sentence about the third most
important thing.
We’ll discuss together
25. Alt text is important
Alt text is like life: it can be tricky, but poetry helps
You can make a difference
Check out alt-text-as-poetry.net
Get in touch (@Just_UX)
29. • how we are taught to write
• plain English
• how to write to be understood
30.
31. We are taught to write in order to show how smart we are.
32. We are taught to write in order to show how smart we are.
We learn to impress our teachers and peers with complexity.
33. We are taught to write in order to show how smart we are.
We learn to impress our teachers and peers with complexity.
We begin to write for ourselves.
34. They may forget what you said – but they will never forget
how you made them feel.
- Carl W. Buehner
37. Plain English is…
Communication that allows your audience
to understand the first time.
A message, written with the reader in mind and with the right tone of voice, that is
clear and concise.
41. Use short, simple sentences.
Split long sentences up, or use bullet points.
42. Use short, simple sentences.
Split long sentences up, or use bullet points.
Avoid complex sentence structures.
43. Use short, simple sentences.
Split long sentences up, or use bullet points.
Avoid complex sentence structures.
Choose easy and short words not formal, long ones.
44. Use short, simple sentences.
Split long sentences up, or use bullet points.
Avoid complex sentence structures.
Choose easy and short words not formal, long ones.
Explain specialist terms.
45. Use short, simple sentences.
Split long sentences up, or use bullet points.
Avoid complex sentence structures.
Choose easy and short words not formal, long ones.
Explain specialist terms.
Never use vague words and jargon.
54. Be clear what the 3 main things are you want to get across.
55. Be clear what the 3 main things are you want to get across.
Make it practical - how will this help?
56. Be clear what the 3 main things are you want to get across.
Make it practical - how will this help?
Write in a plain language, short sentences and paragraphs.
57. Be clear what the 3 main things are you want to get across.
Make it practical - how will this help?
Write in a plain language, short sentences and paragraphs.
Make it easy to scan with headings and subheadings.
65. Who cares?
Is it compelling?
Is it clear?
Is it complete?
Is it concise?
66. Who cares?
Is it compelling?
Is it clear?
Is it complete?
Is it concise?
Is it correct?
67. I love to write.
But it has never gotten any easier to do,
and you can’t expect it to,
if you keep trying for something better than you can do.
- Ernest Hemingway
75. A note about the format for the next 20 mins
This presentation is made in Powerpoint.
It's a slide deck, however, it can also be labelled
as a durational artwork.
As a poet and creative writer, I use Powerpoint to
share content in a variety of artistic ways.
Today, I will be reading some slides aloud.
And sometimes I won’t read aloud.
For those of you using assistive tech, I will let you
know when a gap is coming.
76. Order of field notes
1.A definition of dyslexia
2.My dyslexia, day-to-day
3.The superpower
4.Things not to say
5.Things that help
6.The good and not-so-good
78. Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty that can cause problems
with reading, writing and spelling.
79. It's a specific learning difficulty, which means it causes problems
with certain abilities used for learning, such as reading and writing.
80. It's estimated up to 1 in every 10 people in the UK has some degree
of dyslexia.
81. Dyslexia is a lifelong problem that can present challenges on a daily
basis, but support is available to improve reading and writing skills
and help those with the problem be successful at school and work.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia
82. Field note 2.
My dyslexia, day-to-day
Series of single word slides to follow there will be a gap for those of
you using assistive tech.
112. When unexpected things
happen, especially at work
– and especially using
digital technology, my
cognitive load goes through
the roof and I can’t keep
up with what is happening
around me.
113. What is 'cognitive load'?
In simple words, cognitive load is the amount of working memory used
during any activity. When the cognitive load is reasonable, the working
memory is able to process information more easily.
edited from Wikipedia
114. High cognitive load creates
lots of challenges for me.
These challenges are always
very stressful .
Here's a selection of the
most common.
183. Things not to say:
"Oooh you have a superpower
"I wish I had a superpower too"
"I'm a rubbish speller too"
"We're all a bit dyslexic"
"Don't worry about it"
“Don't worry about it, we all struggle with this stuff”
185. • Having time to prepare
• Others being aware
• Clear messaging/microcopy
• Consistent content
• Congruent content
• Breadcrumbs
• Back function
• Undo function
186. • Lilac screen filter/ page
overlay
• Dark mode option, which I
always switch on
• Chat bots as alternative
navigation
188. • Animated
modals to make
form filling
easier
• Seamless
experience =
great content
design
The best content design and user experience:
TV Licensing
189. • Lots of data
input required
at onboarding
• I inevitably
mis-type
• Put me in a
sign-up loop
that lasted 20
mins
• Access help
took me to
general help
section
Not-so-good design and user experience:
PayByPhone - onboarding
206. Dyslexia:
notes from the field
Lisa Matthews, senior content designer,
Nexer Digital
lisa.matthews@nexergroup.com
@poetech_poetech (Insta) / Poetech3 (Twitter)
Editor's Notes
,
This talk is called The importance of plain English, but it would be easier to understand the message if I’d called it
but why is that? hopefully I can explain in the length of time it takes me to drink this cup of tea.
I’m aiming this talk at people who have to write for their job, but aren’t super nerdy about it, if that isn’t you, please bear with me. We are going to cover some pretty big topics quickly and I’ll share some universal rules and tips that will help you with your own writing. People devote their whole careers to topics that I’m about to strip of nuance and summarize in 10 minutes, the truth is that I’m not going to say anything that people much smarter than me haven’t said already but the internet is still full of content that is inexplicably difficult to understand, so here I am.
We write to pass exams, we write essays to get good grades, we are taught to write to express ourselves, to communicate our feelings, to show how much we have understood or learnt. We learn to use complexity as a way of standing out.
This is the fundamental thing that we need to understand, and the key thing I want to impress upon you today. When we write, we need to worry less about appearing smart, and worry more about being understood.
So I found out that this isn’t a Maya Angelou quote, but I still want to use it. We need to write to be understood, we need to communicate with respect for our audience.
Plain English is a way of showing respect for the people who interact with your content.
Plain English is easier to understand and it allows you to get your message across more easily, and in a friendlier way. The person interacting with your writing doesn’t have the benefit of knowing what you are thinking as you write it. Using plain English gives them the best chance of understanding.
.
You need to think about who your audience is, the context they will receive your writing, can you say the same thing with less words, are there any vague words or jargon that I can swap for something more direct. We are looking to remove any elements of doubt. It’s not about what you are thinking, the reader only has the content you give them, not your thought process.
My speaker notes for this slide just say “I feel seen”
My speaker notes for this slide just say “I feel seen”
Clear writing should have an average sentence length of 15-20 words. 25 words is a good maximum sentence limit. You can mix up shorter and longer sentences to build up a sense of flow, but the longer your sentence is, generally, the harder it is for people to comprehend. A good way to test this is to read it aloud. If you can’t read it aloud without rushing and gasping for air, then you need to edit it.
You can break sentences down. But often the easiest thing to do is use a list.
We are trying to reduce the cognitive effort for our audience. Again, it’s important to remember that your audience is not blessed with the knowledge of what you are trying to say. You know what you’re trying to say and your brain will fill in the gaps without you even realizing. That’s why getting someone to look at your writing before you send or publish it is so important.
Write for the reading comprehension of a 9 year old. Your writing will reach most users but it also becomes easier to scan read for everyone. Try to use short, higher frequency words which are much easier to read.
Do not assume that your audience will understand the technical language you use. It’s ok if you do need to include technical terms, but explain it the first time you use it, give the reader context. You can also make sure the surrounding language is in plain English.
Here’s the point – you should think about what you want to say, what you want the person to understand, and just say that. Vague words and jargon introduce an element of doubt for the reader that isn’t fair on them. It helps to picture your audience and write as if you were talking directly to them, with the authority of someone who can help and inform
Ok, so lets look at a few rules that we can follow that will make your content easier to understand
When people scan they look at headings first, this is where they decide if they are in the right place or not
Put the point, or the action you need someone to take at the beginning - it makes it easier to scan and understand
Blocks of text are hard to digest.
Use your sub headings to indicate what is in the paragraph that follows. It makes it easier to scan.
Content designers love lists.
Don’t use “click here” or “more information” tell the person what they’ll find if they click on the link.
They can be distracting and cause readability challenges.
Once you’ve done that…
Again, the point is that you need someone else to interact with your content to see what you missed when your brain leapt to the point you were trying to make.
Another way to check you are heading in the right direction is to follow Gerry McGoverns Six Cs
Another way to check you are heading in the right direction is to follow Gerry McGoverns Six Cs
Another way to check you are heading in the right direction is to follow Gerry McGoverns Six Cs
Another way to check you are heading in the right direction is to follow Gerry McGoverns Six Cs
Another way to check you are heading in the right direction is to follow Gerry McGoverns Six Cs
Another way to check you are heading in the right direction is to follow Gerry McGoverns Six Cs
Writing is hard. Making things appear simple is really hard. but we learn as we write, so it makes sense that we look at what we’ve written, with this new knowledge we gain from creating and think that it’s not good enough. It’s called the creative curse and there’s been lots written about it but it’s also a really good and positive thing because it shows that you are reaching to do better and you are learning as you go – so you are, as we all are, on the path to get better. Thanks for your time.
