Investigating Reading Experience of Dyslexic Children Through Dyslexia-Friendly Online Learning Environment

Abstract

Dyslexia is one of the most common developmental disabilities; it is a disorder manifested by difficulty in learning to read despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity. The current study focuses on the potential benefits of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to support children with dyslexia in reading. This paper addresses the need for dyslexia-friendly online text by introducing a dyslexia-friendly font for Arabic scripts called Arabolexia. An important question is asked which is ‘Is Arabolexia font an effective reading aid for children with dyslexia?' In this work, the author presents the first study that measures the impact of a dyslexia-friendly font for Arabic scripts on reading performance of native Arabic speakers. Fifty-two students aging between 8 and 26 years old were participated in this study. Descriptive and deductive statistical analysis showed that Arabolexia font has an impact on the reading accuracy of children with dyslexia.