Create Dyslexia-Friendly Presentations with these 5 easy design tips
A client recently asked me to make sure the presentation I designed considered audience members who had dyslexia. This was a good opportunity for me to learn more about dyslexia and the design considerations needed to ensure the presentation was accessible for all audience members.
Supporting people with dyslexia
Millions of people worldwide experience some form of language-based neural difference like dyslexia. It is estimated that up to 10% of New Zealand adults are affected. It is important to make your presentation clearer and easier to comprehend for people with dyslexia, and these 5 easy design tips will benefit everyone in your audience.
1️⃣ Use simple, readable sans serif fonts in your presentations.
Sans serif fonts with a comfortable amount of space between letters are best. Sans serif means the fonts without the ‘feet’, so for example in Microsoft PowerPoint, choosing a font like Aptos rather than Times New Roman.
Bigger is better - choose a large font size, taking into consideration the environment you’ll be presenting in. If you’re presenting in a large conference theatre, increase your font size.
Decorative, tightly packed fonts can create visual confusion and make letters look merged together to someone who has dyslexia. Therefore;
Avoid fonts where the letters are compressed closely together.
Avoid decorative fonts, and those with an uneven line weight.
Avoid italics or underline.
2️⃣ Keep your text short, clear, and simple
Reduce the cognitive load by limiting the number of lines in each slide, and allow plenty of space above and below each line.
Avoid big blocks of text.
Avoid dense, cramped paragraphs.
3️⃣ Consider your slide background
Bright white backgrounds on a presentation slide can create glare, which can make your text appear blurred. Instead, choose an off-white colour. The text should be dark, with lots of open space around the letters. Dark backgrounds with white text also work well. Ensure you leave plenty of ‘white space’ or negative space on the slide.
Avoid using bright white backgrounds
4️⃣ Use relevant images to tell the story
Pictures are an excellent way to break up blocks of text! They make your slides easier to scan. Our brain processes visuals 60,000 x faster than text. Well chosen images will aid your audience’s understanding of your presentation.
The example image below clearly relates to the topic of this presentation, showing an abandoned coastal building impacted by sea level rise.
5️⃣ Visual structuring
A structured layout combining pictures and text is easier for people with dyslexia to comprehend. Use colourful, high-contrast graphics to make easily recognisable groups. Organising and presenting information in this way enables your audience to process information more quickly and clearly.
Accessible design means better design
Practicing accessible presentation design means creating slides that are usable by people with the widest possible range of abilities. These 5 easy design considerations not only benefit individuals with dyslexia but also enhance the overall readability and engagement of your presentation.
Happy designing 🙂
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