Web accessibility and people with dyslexia: a survey on techniques and guidelines
Vagner Figueredo de Santana, Rosimeire de Oliveira, Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida, Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas · 2012 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A) · doi:10.1145/2207016.2207047
Summary
This paper presents a comprehensive survey of the state of the art on dyslexia and web accessibility, synthesising findings from academic research, dyslexia organisations (particularly the British Dyslexia Association), and practitioner guidance into a consolidated set of 41 guidelines. The authors note that while dyslexia affects 15-20% of the global population according to the International Dyslexia Association, WCAG 2.0 directly mentions dyslexia in only one success criterion (3.1.5 Reading Level) and uses only two external dyslexia-related references. The guidelines are organised into nine groups covering navigation (17 guidelines), colours, text presentation, writing style, layout, images and charts, end-user customisation, markup, and videos/audios. Critically, the authors map each guideline group to three stakeholder roles — developers, designers, and content producers — with relevance ratings (high, medium, low) for each role. This role-based mapping allows different team members to quickly find guidelines relevant to their responsibilities.
Key findings
The 41 guidelines cover specific, actionable recommendations including: avoid pure white backgrounds (use light grey like #FFFFE5 instead, as many dyslexic users experience scotopic sensitivity where white backgrounds make text appear to move or blur); use sans-serif or monospaced fonts at minimum 12px (serif fonts like Times New Roman cause the letter "g" to resemble the number "8"); avoid justified text alignment (irregular spacing between words creates visual patterns that distract dyslexic readers); avoid italics entirely (reduced text size makes italic text unreadable for many); use ordered/numbered lists instead of bullet lists (they provide additional contextual information); keep line lengths to 60-70 characters; use 1.5-2x line spacing; avoid dynamic menus with transparency; provide internal search with auto-completion and spell correction; and allow users to customise colour schemes, font types, and text sizes. The survey identified end-user customisation as playing a central role but found only two guidelines addressing it — a significant gap. The authors also note potential conflicts between guidelines — for example, fluid design is recommended but makes it impossible to control line-ending positions, which some guidance suggests is important.
Relevance
This paper provides one of the most comprehensive and practically organised collections of dyslexia-specific web accessibility guidelines available, filling a gap that WCAG 2.0 largely leaves open. The role-based mapping is particularly useful for development teams, as it acknowledges that accessibility is a shared responsibility — designers own colour and layout decisions, developers handle markup and customisation features, and content producers control writing style and image usage. Many of the recommendations benefit all users (shorter paragraphs, clearer navigation, readable fonts), reinforcing the universal design principle. The paper also highlights an important conceptual point: dyslexia is not a homogeneous condition, and individual differences mean that user customisation features are essential rather than optional. The specific colour recommendation (avoiding pure white) and typography guidance (sans-serif, no italics, generous spacing) remain directly applicable to modern web design and are consistent with subsequent research.
Tags: dyslexia · cognitive accessibility · web accessibility guidelines · readability · inclusive design · universal design · typography
Standards referenced: WCAG 2.0