Research behind Immersive Reader, one of Microsoft's Learning Tools for inclusive classrooms.
Font spacing
10% faster and 50% fewer reading errors when reading text with optimized layout
- Marco Zorzi, et al., Extra-large letter spacing improves reading in dyslexia
Findings point to a subtype of dyslexia involving elevated crowding and demonstrate that individuals benefit from interventions personalized to their specific impairments.
- Jason Yeatman, et. al., Optimizing text for an individual’s visual system: The contribution of visual crowding to reading difficulties
Line length
27% increase in reading speed when using short line lengths
- Matthew H. Schneps, et al., Shorter Lines Facilitate Reading in Those Who Struggle
Breaking words into syllables
10% increase in reading comprehension for adults with syllabification
- Yu-Chi Tai, et al., Within-Word Text Segmentation on Lexical Processing and Reading
Building the syllabic bridge from available phonological syllables and frequent letter clusters may therefore be the first step in learning to read.
- Nadège Doignon-Camus, et. al., The syllabic bridge: The first step in learning spelling-to-sound correspondences
Page color
The children who chose a colored overlay read more slowly without the overlay than with it. These children reported more symptoms of visual discomfort and showed signs of tiring when they read without the overlay
- Arnold J. Wilkins, et.al, Coloured overlays, visual discomfort, visual search and classroom reading
Text-to-speech (Read aloud) and word or line highlighting
It was concluded that students with learning disabilities in all grades, except the 7th grade… benefitted from the read aloud accommodation more than their typical peers, presenting a differential boost.
- Georgia Andreou, et.al., Accommodations on Reading Comprehension Assessment for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Review Study
Simultaneous highlighting and voicing text – “Dual highlighting is a related software feature, sometimes called masking, in which the context (sentence or paragraph) is highlighted in one color while the spoken word is highlighted in a second color, making it easier for readers to stay in sync with the spoken text….They found that students with LD who were given text passages with bimodal input performed as well on the comprehension questions as the average reader control group with visual input alone.
"Elkind examined the effectiveness of using speech synthesis during reading tasks on reading performance for post-secondary students with dyslexia. Their results showed participants not only demonstrated improved reading rates and comprehension, but also increased their ability to sustain attention while reading.”
- Kim Floyd, et. al., The Efficacy of Assistive Technology on Reading Comprehension for Postsecondary Students with Learning Disabilities (2012)
The use of screen readers or other text-to-speech software has led to increased reading comprehension performance for students with the weakest reading skills.
- Kim Floyd, et. al., The Efficacy of Assistive Technology on Reading Comprehension for Postsecondary Students with Learning Disabilities (2012)
For students with reading disabilities, text-to-speech technologies may assist students with reading comprehension – a meta-analysis.
- Sarah Wood, et. al., Does Use of Text-to-Speech and Related Read-Aloud Tools Improve Reading Comprehension for Students With Reading Disabilities? A Meta-Analysis
Sitka font
During the typeface's development, we tested how well people could read each of the letters in the typeface, and used the test results to inform design decisions
- Kevin Larson, et al., Sitka Font: A collaboration between type design and science