Member-only story
Designing for users with dyslexia
Around 780 million people are dyslexic. This means that there are hundreds of millions of potential users who may encounter barriers when interacting with our products.
1 in 10 people have dyslexia. The world has about 7.8 billion people living it in, so there are around 780 million people who are dyslexic.
In other words, there are hundreds of millions of potential users who may encounter barriers when interacting with our products. As designers, we have a responsibility to make our designs accessible and inclusive for everyone, including people with dyslexia.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, so I encourage you to read through some of the resources linked and implement the guidelines into your work. Everything listed in this article is the result of extensive research and the collection of web resources, rather than first-hand experience testing with dyslexic users.
There are different types and levels of dyslexia, there isn’t a single guide or solution that fits millions of unique and diverse people.
User testing is the key to creating inclusive and accessible products. For now, let’s take a look at some general guidelines to follow while designing for users with dyslexia.
What exactly is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a common learning disability that affects how people process written language. People with dyslexia may have difficulties with reading, spelling, writing, and comprehension. Dyslexia can also affect other cognitive skills, such as memory, attention, and organization. Dyslexia is not a sign of low intelligence or laziness, but rather a different way of learning.
Some people with dyslexia describe it as letters seeming to swap out of place. There is actually a dyslexia simulator (made by Victor Widell) that you can check out to see what reading like for some people with dyslexia.
I don’t know about you, but I had a tough time reading that. Some commenters on Widell’s blog mentioned that this is too easy, since the first and last letters in the simulation stay the same.
“To be clear, Widell’s…
