DESIGNING FOR DYSLEXIA - THE DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICS SOFTWARE FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

摘要

Approximately 3% of students at the University of Sunderland have a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) or Dyslexia, and a large proportion of these students also appear to struggle with mathematical concepts. In order to help tackle this problem we have developed a multimedia teaching program. An initial review of screen design guidelines for this class of user indicated that there were few general guidelines and that those which did exist were often conflicting. One issue which constantly arose was that the requirements for font type, case, and screen colour schemes were very much based on the specific requirements of individual users. Expert teachers and counsellors of students with SpLD were consulted and their methods for mathematics teaching adapted and used as the basis of our program. The guidelines we used, for both screen design and the actual teaching of mathematics, are presented and the results of our evaluation discussed.