Visual support in easy language
Easy Language (EL) presents information in a simplified way and benefits people who have difficulty understanding standard language. The present study evaluates the effects of visual support inclusion, as it is a recurring recommendation in EL guidelines. We examined 52 adults (23 men and 29 women;...
| Autores: | , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:322920 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/322920 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1017/langcog.2025.10042 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Comprehension Easy Language Eye tracking Intellectual disability Visual support |
| Resumo: | Easy Language (EL) presents information in a simplified way and benefits people who have difficulty understanding standard language. The present study evaluates the effects of visual support inclusion, as it is a recurring recommendation in EL guidelines. We examined 52 adults (23 men and 29 women; mean age of 39.9; 26 with intellectual disabilities [ID], 26 neurotypical) in a mixed design study. They read EL texts that presented either no visual support, photographs or illustrations. Their eye movements were recorded, and they answered comprehension, text difficulty and style preference questions. The inclusion of visual support had no effect on comprehension, nor did the type of visual support (photographs/illustrations). The group (ID/neurotypical) and the type of visual support also showed no effects on the perceived difficulty of the text. Neurotypical participants showed a preference for illustrations. Photographs may be more difficult to interpret than illustrations due to longer fixations and shorter saccades in both groups. The group with an ID showed more and longer fixations, especially on text and whitespace, while the neuro- typical group tended to explore the image more. Results prompt a discussion on the potential improvements of EL guidelines and highlight the need for similar empirical studies in the area. |
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