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Reading text
Fonts for dyslexia
There’s a font called OpenDyslexic which you can download from here and set up on your Mac (or other devices). There’s an article on how to install it here and in Chrome you can go to chrome://settings/fonts (paste that into your browser address bar) to configure your default browser fonts.
Screen readers
AbilityNet.org have a fantastic guide to screen readers which is located here.
Writing text
Things to consider
The purpose of this section is to provide some useful writing tips for writing business communication and technical documents. Writing as a whole is far too broad a topic for this site.
- Avoid metaphoric language and idioms, saying what you mean will make your writing easier to read for folks who are translating your writing electronically or not fluent in your content’s language, and will help you to avoid expressions which are built on historic prejudice or bias.
- For example, if there’s a subject you know less about then saying “this is a subject I know less about” is better than saying “this is a blind spot for me”. The “blind spot” wording is ableist and may also not be clear to folks who are translating.
- Try to imagine that you’ll need to look up each word you use in a dictionary, and the top entry for each word will be the only explanation you can provide for why you’re using it. If you start worrying that you’d need to provide more explanation then you might need to rethink your writing.
- Find someone to sense-check your writing. Sometimes this isn’t possible, but if you can find a proof-reader who will give you honest feedback then it’s worth doing so. If another person isn’t available then it can help to read your text out loud to yourself.
- Imagine you need to explain the topic of your writing to a young child. This isn’t intended to patronise your audience, the intent is to force you to focus on what you really need to communicate without overcomplicating things.