Visual Dispersion

The challenge faced by deaf and hard of hearing individuals when they must divide their visual attention between multiple simultaneous information sources, such as a speech-to-text display, presentation slides, a whiteboard, and the speaker. Unlike hearing individuals who can watch visuals while simultaneously listening to speech, DHH individuals must sequentially shift their gaze between caption displays and other visual content. Research has shown this visual dispersion causes DHH students to spend less time viewing lecture visuals, miss information when returning to caption displays, and comprehend less than hearing peers—even when captioning accommodations are provided. Minimizing visual dispersion by positioning captions near other visual focal points can improve accessibility.