Reading plays an important role in helping us navigate our surroundings on a daily basis - from road signs to digital messages. But there is little research on the physical challenges associated with reading in real-world settings, such as glare or tiny fonts. Scientists are launching a participatory project that allows people around the world to help answer research questions about challenges that can affect our ability to read in different settings.
"We know many factors that can affect reading - such as lighting, font style, font size, and so on - but we don't know which factors are actually affecting our ability to read in day-to-day life," says Yingchen He, primary investigator of the project and an assistant professor of psychology at NC State. "Which factors matter the most in people's lives?"
"One reason this is important is because there are accessibility rules in place designed to help people with various visual challenges," says Yiting Liu, a Ph.D. student at NC State who is leading the project. "We'd like to learn more about how well these accessibility efforts work. We're optimistic that our work here could also inform the way that we present written information in order to make it more accessible for everyone.
To participate in the project, you need two things:
- a smartphone or other device that can be used to take photos and share them;
- the ability to print out a small "reference card" - about the size of a postcard.
To learn more about the project and participate, you can visit https://go.ncsu.edu/wickedwords.
"We're really hoping to get broad participation from people of all ages and backgrounds," says Liu.
"The more people participate, the more we're able to learn," says He. "And that could have a meaningful impact on all of us, in terms of making it easier for us to read clearly and accurately in all sorts of settings."
The project is being done in partnership with NC State University Libraries as part of the Citizen Science Incubator program.
