TAdER — Text Adaptability is Essential for Reading

Text Customization for Readability

Overview

Millions of people cannot read normally-formatted text, and millions more will not be able to in the coming years as their vision declines due to ageing. Some people with low vision, dyslexia, and related conditions and situations that impact reading cannot read the text in print books, newspapers, manuals, etc. (even with reading glasses). However they can read text that is formatted differently, for example, with larger letters, different font, more spacing, etc.

Electronic media (websites, PDF files, e-books) offers the opportunity for unprecedented access to information for people with print disabilities because accessibility barriers of print can be overcome through technology. With technology such as word processing software, electronic text can be customized (with larger font, etc.) to be readable by more people with visual perceptual impairments.

However, some mainstream technologies and tools do not provide sufficient text customization functionality to make text readable.

PDF is of particular concern because:

• Essential information — such as tax instructions, scientific papers, educational material, and medical information — is increasingly provided only as PDF.
• Adobe Reader and other PDF viewers lack sufficient text customization functionality.
• Many people, even accessibility specialists, do not realize that PDF is not sufficiently accessible to some people with low vision, dyslexia, and related conditions and situations that impact reading.

Part of the issue is that some accessibility guidelines and standards do not sufficiently address text customization requirements in order for people to be able to read electronic text.

Please learn more about:

• Understanding people's need to be able to customize text in order to read, what happens when text is not displayed well, and personal stories.
• The aspects of text display that users need to be able to customize.
• Support for text customization in tools, technologies, standards, and guidelines.

Supporting research and references are throughout the website.

You can help

• If you're a user agent (web browsers, PDF viewers, e-book readers) product manager, designer, or anyone who can influence user agent functionality: Include support for users to be able to customize aspects of text display.
• If you decide what technology to use to provide information: Choose the most accessible technology. HTML is generally recognized as the most accessible technology. PDF is not currently accessible to people with low vision, dyslexia, and related conditions and situations that impact reading.
• If you want PDF to be more accessible, especially if you provide information in PDF : Tell Adobe that it's important that PDF Reader supports users' needs to customize text.
• If you develop accessibility policies, standards, or guidelines: Ensure that they include requirements to meet users' needs to customize text for readability.
• If you design or develop websites: Make sure they work when users' customize text display.
• If you come across content that is not accessible: Tell the content owner. See Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Websites for guidance.

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The TAdER Project

The TAdER Project aims to encourage developers to include specific text customization functionality in their products (including Adobe Reader for PDF, e-book readers, web browsers, and other 'user agents') by:

• Raising awareness and understanding of users' needs among tool developers, standards developers, content providers, and policy makers.
• Providing information to support standards developers and policy makers to include specific text customization requirements.
• Providing suggestions to tools developers and content providers on including specific text customization functionality.

The first phase of the project is researching, analyzing, and communicating users' needs.

This work is currently a personal project of Shawn Henry. Some of it was done for an MSc in Digital Inclusion through Middlesex University. There is much more work to be done in this area. I hope the project will continue and expand in the future.

Note: Not W3C WAI

Please be careful in referencing the information on this tader.info website and e-mails from uiAccess.com as from the individual Shawn, not W3C or WAI. Although Shawn also works for the W3C WAI, these are not W3C WAI publications.

For more information

Shawn Henry
+1-617-395-7664
projects@uiAccess.com

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Text
Adaptability is
Essential for
Reading

on this site:

• >Text Customization for Readability
• Understanding Users' Needs
  • When Text is Not Displayed Well
  • User Experiences
  • From How I See It
• Text Display Aspects
  • Printing Customized Text
  • Element-Level Customization
• Support for Text Customization
• Research
  • Survey

© Copyright 2012-2013 Shawn Lawton Henry

Disclaimer: Information on this site is based on the knowledge, experience, and best judgments of Shawn Henry and other contributors. No warranties or guarantees are implied. Shawn shall not be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary damages based on this information.