Text Layout advice

For people with dyslexia it is difficult to read
text if the layout is not carefully designed.
In this section, we will discuss the most common
problems and solutions.

Massive blocks of text on one page. The prospect
of having to read so much text has an intimidating
effect on people with dyslexia.

Solution: divide the text into several paragraphs
and don’t make the text column wider than six
to nine words.

Very long sentences. People with dyslexia tend
to get lost in such a large amount of text.
It makes them feel like they just can’t get
through it.

Solution: divide the text into several columns.
Every column should contain an average of nine
words. Make sure that there is enough space
between the columns, to prevent readers from
reading on from one column to the other.

Lots of different pieces of text on one page,
as in newspapers. For people with dyslexia,
the layout can appear very confusing,
and they will have difficulty recognizing
individual parts of text.

Solution: make sure to leave enough space between
the lines and around the separate text sections.
Also make sure to create enough space between
the text and any pictures, otherwise the reader
will be distracted.

A justified margin, which makes the page looks like
a single block of letters. As a result, all the lines
look similar. A person with dyslexia won’t be able
to remember the last word he read.

Solution: always align the text to the left.
Never align the text to the right and never
center the text, or it will be difficult for
dyslexic readers to work out where the
next line starts.