Visual and Perceptual Problems Simulation (VAPPS): A Computer Based Staff Development Tool.
Nigel Beacham, IMPACT Research Group, Loughborough University.
Jacqueline Szumko, English Language Study Unit, Loughborough University.
Communicating the reality of dyslexia
The VAPPS prototype
Figure 1a: Visual Perceptual Effects
Figure 1b: Visual Perceptual Effects
VAPPS Features and Architecture
Figure 2: Simulation Architecture
VAPPS Validity and Accuracy
The application of the VAPPS prototype
Results
VAPPS prototype exposure
Lessons learnt
Abstract
The Singleton Report (1999) makes a number of recommendations regarding staff development, however the reality of this for many of us is that there is much to do, but little time available either to prepare materials or to speak to staff. Furthermore, it can be very difficult to communicate even a small part of the experience of dyslexia to those in academia who have little or no understanding of it. One “solution” to these difficulties has been developed in the form of a prototype software presentation using Flash, named the Visual And Perceptual Problems Simulation (VAPPS). At its current stage of development, VAPPS demonstrates visual perceptual difficulties and the importance of layout, colour and font when producing teaching materials. It has been found to be a very helpful resource for staff development.
Raising Awareness
A key area of work for those who support students with dyslexia involves the raising of awareness of dyslexia issues among non-specialist teaching staff. The Singleton Report (1999) devotes a whole chapter to the importance of staff development, recommending that a programme of staff development and awareness should be developed by dyslexia specialists that should be attended by all “appropriate staff”. According to Singleton et al, appropriate staff includes all staff involved in teaching, student welfare, examinations, library and careers departments; this will include academic, support and administrative staff. The importance of staff awareness is further underlined by the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act Part IV, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) that came into force in September 2002. The Act makes it a legal requirement for educational institutions to introduce “reasonable adjustments” for dyslexic students and consequently many institutions are now reviewing policies and putting improvements in place. In this situation, informed decisions need to be made. Hence the need for raising staff awareness regarding dyslexia has become even more pressing.
The need for raising (or introducing) a baseline level of understanding of dyslexia extends further than the policy development level. It is not only the nature of the “reasonable adjustments” that matters, but also the manner in which they are communicated and implemented on an institutional, departmental and individual basis. For example, a member of staff who has some understanding of the reasons why students need copies of overhead projector transparencies (OHTs) may be more approachable than a lecturer who views this merely as an extra chore. Without doubt the approachability of staff can make all the difference to a student.
Although both the Singleton Report and SENDA have been very positive developments, delivering the staff development goods “on the ground” can be far from straightforward. Firstly there are the time pressures on both session deliverer and participants. It can take a long time to prepare a dyslexia awareness session and there are few off-the-peg resources available. Participants will have other calls on their time and dyslexia may not be a priority for them. It is quite different delivering sessions about dyslexia to volunteers who have an interest in the subject compared with those who are required to attend when their priorities lie elsewhere. Linked to this, is the matter of participants’ prior knowledge of and attitude to dyslexia. Some members of staff may already know something about dyslexia and/or may be open to new information and ideas, others will just want to find out how they are directly affected and, for various reasons, others may be unwilling to even consider dyslexia as a serious issue. In the latter situation a change in mind-set may be required – a tall order for a single, possibly short, awareness-raising session.
Communicating the reality of dyslexia
A key consideration for dyslexia awareness training is the quality of communication. Are the participants internalising the messages you want them to understand? Just how effective are our words and materials? Given that dyslexia is a phenomenon so far removed from the experience of the average academic, it can be difficult to avoid comments from participants such as; “Isn’t dyslexia just what happens when you get older?” “Undergraduates can’t spell anyway” “Everybody has the problems on that list”. Remarks of this kind serve to trivialise a condition that can have a profound effect on a person’s life – and can also have a detrimental effect on a staff awareness session. The intention behind the development of the VAPPS prototype was to provide a visualisation of a common problem for dyslexic people, in order to move from the presentation of abstract ideas to the provision of concrete learning through images and experiential exercises. It has been found that the simulations of some of the visual difficulties often associated with dyslexia have a certain shock value, in that they cause the viewer to stop and think, and to acknowledge that dyslexia is a condition that ought to be taken seriously.
At its current stage of development, VAPPS demonstrates a range of visual disturbances experienced by some people when reading. The authors acknowledge the following three key points:
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Although the majority of people with dyslexia will experience some visual difficulties, not all do.
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The visual difficulties vary from person to person, as do the “solutions”. General guidelines for the majority of cases are shown on VAPPS.
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Visual difficulties are only one aspect of the complex condition that is dyslexia.
The VAPPS prototype
Over the past year, an electronic tool has been developed to help address some of the problems and issues raised in the previous sections. In this section, we explain what the tool is and describe the tool’s main features and components.
The Visual and Perceptual Problems Simulation (VAPPS), was designed based on current dyslexia research (Evans, 2001; Irlen, 1991; Jordon, 2002; Ott, 1997; Poustie, 2000; Reid, 1998; Ryden, 1992; and Tyre, 1998) and our own experience. Its main purpose is to aid dyslexia support tutors in communicating about dyslexia. The tool achieves this by allowing a tutor to choose from a set of visual perceptual effects and difficulties.
The tool simulates the following ten effects:
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Pattern glare effect
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Rivers effect
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Whirlpool effect
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Glare effect
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Overlap effect
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Disappearing effect
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Floating line effect
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Text reversal effect
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Text flow effect
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Font type effects
Figures 1a and 1b are intended to graphically illustrate the effects 1 – 7 listed above. However, static illustrations fail to give a clear understanding of what it is like to experience such an effect for real. It is extremely difficult to define and describe such effects through a written description. A full appreciation can only really be achieved when illustrating the effects using a more efficient and expressive medium such as a simulation. Only then can a full understanding of the effects and the implications for dyslexics be gained.
The remaining three effects (8, 9, 10) form a set of exercises that can be carried out with audience participation. The ‘text reversal effect’ exercise involves identifying and counting the number of errors present in a piece of text. The errors include reversals, contractions and visual miscues (e.g. mistaking ‘5’ for ‘S’, ‘c’ for ‘e’, ‘b’ for ‘d’, ‘q’ for ‘p’, ‘i’ for ‘j’, ‘o’ for ‘0’, ‘cl’ for ‘d’, ‘lo’ for ‘b’ and so on).
The ‘text flow effect’ exercise involves timing how long it takes people to read a paragraph when displayed in four different ways: (1) multi-column, with justified text containing hyphenated words; (b) multi-column, justified text containing no hyphenated words; (c) single-column, justified text without hyphenated words; and (d) as single-column, left-aligned text without hyphenated words.
Figure 1a: Visual Perceptual Effects
Figure 1b: Visual Perceptual Effects
The final exercise, ‘Font type effects’, involves timing how long it takes people to read a paragraph when displayed in eight different types of font. The fonts
used illustrate the implications of using serif and sans serif fonts; underlining; character, word and line spacing; joined up letters and capitalisation. To increase the level of difficulty the text is written with the maximum number of words of Greek origin and is on the subject of Economics. Even if a person can read the text, he/she will find it very difficult to understand.
VAPPS Features and Architecture
The tool offers a number of key features:
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A simple menu making navigation particularly easy
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A set of push-button operations that allow some of the more visually sensitive effects to be paused
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An option to transport the tool on floppy disk or CDROM
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An option to access the tool remotely via the World Wide Web or over an intranet
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A set of simulations of dyslexia experiences
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Little or no IT training is necessary to install and operate VAPPS, assuming users have a basic level of computer literacy.
The tool consists of seven main components:
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A main menu component
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A pattern glare component
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A line and word movement component
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A floating line component
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A text reversal component
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A text flow component
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A font component
As illustrated in Figure 2, each of the components consists of a set of scenes that together form a simulation.
Figure 2: Simulation Architecture
For example, the pattern glare component contains four scenes, which together simulate the use of different backgrounds during the pattern glare effect. The first scene illustrates what the pattern glare effect looks like on a plain white background. The second and third scenes illustrate what the effect looks like on a light and dark grey background, respectively. The fourth scene illustrates what the effect is like when a very dark grey background is used. By darkening the background, the simulation demonstrates how the effect can be reduced or even stopped.
The tool was designed with flexibility in mind. It was clear that one dyslexia support tutor might wish to focus on particular effects and difficulties in a different order to other tutors. For this reason, the prototype was developed based upon a tool as opposed to a presentation. To provide this flexibility, each scene relates to a specific difficulty that those who have dyslexia may experience. Each component relates to sets of these difficulties that form a specific exercise for a dyslexia support tutor to cover. Each component can be selected in any order.
VAPPS Development
A user-centred design approach was used to develop the VAPPS prototype. User requirements were obtained by holding a number of brainstorming and discussion meetings with a dyslexia support tutor. Some staff development workshops were also attended in order to observe how a dyslexia specialist normally addresses the issue of communicating and educating staff about dyslexia.
A specification of the tool was drawn up and a number of ideas sketched out in collaboration with a dyslexia specialist. Using the specification and ideas discussed, an initial prototype was then developed. The VAPPS prototype was developed using Macromedia Flash5. This authoring tool was chosen because of its powerful features for developing animations.
The prototype was then demonstrated to and reviewed by the dyslexia support tutor. Suggestions made were used to revise the prototype. Over a period of a year, the evolving prototype has been used and tested. Feedback reporting errors and problems has been considered and used to continually revise the prototype.
VAPPS Validity and Accuracy
Whilst great care and attention has been taken to make the different types of effect within the prototype as realistic as possible, it is clear that not all the effects illustrated are exact. Invariably, detail about each effect was lacking and assumptions were made. In addition, some of the effects are as realistic as the developer/user perceives. Furthermore, there are limitations within the technology. For example the pattern glare effect was particularly difficult to simulate. The ‘bobbling’ effect between and under the lines was limited by the authoring package used, therefore the texture and size of the bobbles only approximate what a dyslexic person may actually perceive. Nevertheless, it is felt that the effects are realistic enough to enable those who are not dyslexic to see and experience the effects for themselves.
The application of the VAPPS prototype
Over the past year, the prototype has been used by two main groups: dyslexia specialists and information and courseware providers. The prototype has been used for staff development in three main contexts:
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As part of staff development workshops for teaching staff
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At staff meetings of academic departments
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As part of one-to-consultations with interested parties
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As part of a library seminar on how to make information in libraries more accessible to people who are dyslexic.
In contrast, information and courseware providers have been shown the tool to help them gain a clearer understanding of usability and pedagogic issues with respect to the problems dyslexics experience when using computer systems. Such issues have become particularly important with the introduction of new legislation (SENDA, 2002).
Results
Over the last year, VAPPS has been used as an integral part of nine different staff awareness sessions. The simulations always arouse interest; however, the most notable result of using VAPPS has been a difference in attitudes and atmosphere. The nature and extent of the visual difficulties that many students face often comes as rather a shock, particularly to academic staff. This can also be judged by the comments that are made and by the fact that suggestions of what can be done to help often come from the participants themselves and therefore do not need to be imposed from outside. An additional positive outcome has been that, generally, for every group of participants who are exposed to VAPPS, somebody asks for a demonstration to other colleagues.
VAPPS prototype exposure
The prototype has attracted interest from a variety of parties. These include:
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The British Dyslexia Association Computer Committee
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Dyslexia specialists
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Educational technologies and system developers
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Support services at Loughborough University (Disabilities and Additional Needs Service, English Language Support Unit and Staff Development Department)
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Dyslexia specialists from other educational institutions.
All the interested parties have shown support for such a tool and many have wished to obtain a copy to use for themselves.
Lessons learnt
There have been numerous lessons learnt during the development and use of the tool. When developing simulations of visual perceptual effects there is a danger that a developer will feel stressed and tired. Testing the simulations is particularly stressful. Therefore, before developing this type of tool it is important that developers obtain advice and guidance.
There are also issues relating to the use of such a tool in different settings. Using a data projector to show the tool has a different impact to showing the tool on a computer screen. When using a data projector some of the effects may be demonstrated less successfully than when shown on a computer screen.
Although the prototype was developed as a tool for dyslexia support tutors, it was soon realised that it has many other roles. The prototype could be used as a support aid to remind information providers of the types of visual perceptual problems many dyslexics experience. It could be used as a set of animations to provide a visual effect at an event about dyslexia. It could be used as a set of stand-alone exercises to help information and courseware providers gain an understanding about dyslexia. It could also be used as a basis for a set of presentations by dyslexia support tutors to ensure they cover the same key points.
Future work
Since developing and using the prototype, it has become clear that there is a need for more tools to help dyslexia specialists to raise awareness of dyslexia in their institutions. There is also a need to educate providers of information, such as publishers, about the difficulties dyslexics experience. In addition to communicating and educating people about dyslexia, it is important that tools are made available for other disabilities. Our intention is to continue to develop the tool through expanding the areas covered in VAPPS. We consider the prototype to be work in progress.
References
Evans, B.J.W. (2001) Dyslexia & Vision London, Whurr Publishers
Irlen, H. (1991) Reading by the Colours New York, Avery Publishing Group
Jordan, I. (2002) Visual Dyslexia Signs, Symptoms and Assessment Barnetby-le-Wold (UK), Desktop Publications
Ott, P. (1997) How to Detect and Manage Dyslexia Oxford, Heinemann Educational Publishers
Poustie, J. (2000) Literacy Solutions: A Practical Guide to Effective Strategies and Resources Taunton (UK), Next Generation
Reid, G. (1998) Dyslexia, A Practitioner’s Handbook Chichester (UK), John Wiley & Sons
Ryden, M. (2nd ed. 1992) Dyslexia, How Would I Cope? London, Jessica Kingsley
SENDA, (2002) Special Educational Needs and Disability Act, Available from URL: www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2001/010010.htm. Accessed: 18/12/02.
Singleton, C.H. (Chair) (1999) Dyslexia in Higher Education: policy, provision and practice. (Report of the National Working Party on Dyslexia in Higher Education.) Hull: University of Hull on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Councils of England and Scotland
Tyre, C. (1998) Dyslexia, A Staff Development Handbook Lichfield (UK), QEd
