Readability, for whom? : An eye tracking study evaluating the guidelines from Dyslexiförbundet

Abstract: This work aims to answer the question whether the recommendations for writing a text for a dyslexic reader affects the readability of said text. An eye tracking study was conducted upon texts that were manipulated according to or opposing the guidelines that the Swedish dyslexia association (Dyslexiförbundet) has developed in the project Begriplig text. Participants were 8 dyslexic and 9 non-dyslexic readers. The results show little to no improvement in readability following the guidelines. Future works could examine how the perceived readability corresponds to the results of readability measures, such as the ones calculated by the application TeCST. Future work could also conduct the experiment with more participants.