Gallina Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I have just started up a local forum of my own, and I have had quite a severe message from someone who is a dyslexic. He says that all messages sent to the forum should be very short and simply written, because it takes him too long to read a long message. He says that long messages (by which I think he probably means anything longer than three paragraphs of this size) are the equivalent of spam. I wondered what people think of this. Obviously you have to be as concise as you can and not use sesquipedalian (':wink:') words, but I don't think that people who have a problem with reading can really expect the vast majority of people to adapt their ways to suit them. I would be particularly interested in hearing from dyslexics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 is it a forum for dyslexics? He'd have a point if it was. Otherwise, he can't expect everyone else to tailor their messages to suit him, people just wouldn't do it and you'd have to be constantly reminding them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I have 2 (possibly 3 ) children with diagnosed Dyslexia, and also my OH I'm absolutely sure they wouldn't expect a message to be kept short for their benefit karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted December 13, 2007 Author Share Posted December 13, 2007 Poet, you are lovely. That is what I hoped someone would say. It's meant to be a forum for everyone in a neighbourhood, and I can understand it must be annoying if you can't read quickly, but lots of things in life are annoying. Everyone is surely non-standard in some way, and has to adapt. I am nearly 6 feet tall and can't bear low work surfaces, but am not expecting tiny people to stretch up to the height I would like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 i'm 6 foot 1 AND left handed! I've always found seating at work uncomfortable (not to mention the PC mouse always being on the wrong side) as the edge of the seat cuts into the back of my thighs (no matter how I adjust it!). I just put up with it for years as we all had to move desks all the time anyway. Then we got a health and safety 'workstation assessment' sent round to everyone; you know, with questions like "is your PC at the right height?" "is your chair comfortable? The edge of the seat pan should come to just behind your knees" etc etc So, I thought I'll have some fun with this and tell the truth!!!! Not for one moment expecting they would do anything. Next thing there's a bloke at my desk with a tape measure asking me all sorts of questions! They had to spend £1000 on adjusting the height of my desk and getting me a new chair and footrest etc! All my friends laughed at me though because my desk was on stilts and I was higher than everyone around me, it was really funny though! It was like being in a 4x4 surrounded by minis!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMcHen Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I too am dyslexic but I would not expect nor desire that messages be shortened to facilitate those of us challenged in this way. Most of the messages are interesting, though some (occasionally) go off the point somewhat but this is a forum. A chatty place for help, advice, companionship and somewhere to air ones views and ideas. Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovemychooks Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I have just started up a local forum of my own, and I have had quite a severe message from someone who is a dyslexic. He says that all messages sent to the forum should be very short and simply written, because it takes him too long to read a long message. He says that long messages (by which I think he probably means anything longer than three paragraphs of this size) are the equivalent of spam. I wondered what people think of this. Obviously you have to be as concise as you can and not use sesquipedalian (':wink:') words, but I don't think that people who have a problem with reading can really expect the vast majority of people to adapt their ways to suit them. I would be particularly interested in hearing from dyslexics. I'm dyslexic and although I do find it hard to really a very long piece of work I would never discourage someone else from doing this. There are people who are severley dsylexic, some who are mild and some who are in the middle but you can't cater for everyone. I say go for it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted December 13, 2007 Author Share Posted December 13, 2007 And you're lovely too, Lovemychooks and Maggie McHen. I think the answer is to write exactly as much as I need to, but then try to cut it down to make it more snappy. Does it help if I keep my paragraphs short like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I also agree with what has been said - and I'm only 5'1" (as you know) and never expect people to make allowances - I just try harder (or wear heels ). generally speaking, some things in life are hard and possibly even tedious, but trying harder makes us better people and less inclined to be lazy. Go for it Gallina! Make some allowances, but don't let the comment rule you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I agree. Don't make significant changes. If your complainant wants to start his own forum, designed they way he wants it, then there is absolutely nothing to stop him. I agree that paragraphs of rants can be a bore but that is a different matter altogether and can be discouraged or moderated. I too am left handed but don't expect people to change for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovemychooks Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I agree with Claret, write as much as you need to but don't shorten it down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I find reading long long paragraphs of text a bit hard. But you get used to it! Tell the person who is having trouble to make the text bigger, eaiser to read I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little chickadee Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I have a lot of problems reading large chunks of text, not because of dyslexia, but my eyes get very tired because of my M.E and I get severe headaches if I overdo it. If there is something I really want to read, I can always copy it onto a word document and increase the size of the text. I also find reading with a piece of plain white paper underneath the line I'm reading useful. i wouldn't expect anyone to change what they wrote so that I could read it, although if anyone is reading and would like to put a space between each paragraph when they are writing a lot, that would be really helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I'm 5 foot nothing & left-handed! But...I can use a mouse with my right hand, I pour water from a kettle with my right hand & play golf righthanded..... I cannot use left handed scissors Sometimes my grammar is appalling on here, I do apologise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted December 13, 2007 Author Share Posted December 13, 2007 You are all lovely. I think the answer is to break my paragraphs up more, and really look carefully to see if I am repeating myself or rambling. Otherwise I will do just what I like. It's not as if anyone has to read anything they don't want to. They have the right to think, "Oh not that long-winded woman again", and I have the right to be long-winded if I feel like it. I am not talking about writing pages and pages, but maybe five or six short paragraphs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 It's not as if anyone has to read anything they don't want to. They have the right to think, "Oh not that long-winded woman again", and I have the right to be long-winded if I feel like it. I am not talking about writing pages and pages, but maybe five or six short paragraphs. hear hear I like to waffle on but only because I feel in good company and am on my own most of the day so it's nice to 'talk' to someone other than the chickens! Sorry if I bore some people, like Gallina says, just pass on by Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I can see why dyslexic's would find things difficult to read on forums, some people write in "text" laguage, which I find quite annoying, although I know what they mean I wouldn't ask anyone to change it as that is how they have chosen to write their message. My spelling isn't perfect *looks for spelling mistakes* but I think its Ok to read I have M.E as little chickadee has mentioned (as in CFS?) which makes my eyes tired, so it is difficult to read long messages as they eventually go blury But I've learnt to deal with it, and if it gets too much then go back to it later. My spelling and grammer isn't that good though... xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little chickadee Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 My spelling is very good when I'm writing, but I tend to touch type and not look at the screen when i'm typing, as it's easier on my eyes. so apolgies for any dreadful mistakes I make! Yes, M.E is the same thing as C.F.S. I don't tend to use the C.F.S label, as people assume it's just about being a bit more tired than most people. And, as my lovely (not) GP once told me, everyone gets tired! This link tells you a bit about the illness http://www.afme.org.uk/mediacentre.asp?table=contenttypethree_detail&pagetitle=Key%20information&id=99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 My spelling is very good when I'm writing, but I tend to touch type and not look at the screen when i'm typing, as it's easier on my eyes. so apolgies for any dreadful mistakes I make! Yes, M.E is the same thing as C.F.S. I don't tend to use the C.F.S label, as people assume it's just about being a bit more tired than most people. And, as my lovely (not) GP once told me, everyone gets tired! This link tells you a bit about the illness http://www.afme.org.uk/mediacentre.asp?table=contenttypethree_detail&pagetitle=Key%20information&id=99 Yep that's me all over, had it for over a year now My concentration is the worst along with the tiredness and sensitve eyes and ears . xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 people assume it's just about being a bit more tired than most people. And, as my lovely (not) GP once told me, everyone gets tired! I've found that (some, not all) people make a lot of assumptions about conditions they have no experience of suffering from. I totally sympathise. xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Well Gallina, I think that if you are to cater specifically for the dyslexics by writing in short paragraphs, then you need to cater for others. All writing must be in a larger font, ideally 12, for the ones with visual problems. Also need to change the background to blue and the text to yellow as that has been shown to be the best contrast ergonomically. Will do blue on cream as I can't do it the other way round. Is that better? (I'm sure there must be other modifications but I can't think of them at the moment!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 You beat me to it Snowy! I was just going to post about coloured backgrounds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirl Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Sorry Snowy I found that blue writing hard to read. I'm feeling like a lir down now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted December 13, 2007 Author Share Posted December 13, 2007 I like the size of that text. I think I shall demand it on this forum for those who are getting on a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I typed in a larger font once and one of the mods changed it back to normal size and told me not to change the fonts in my messages in future. He said it nicely and gave me some technical reason, but I was still told not to do it again. I do find the font on here quite small and hard to read sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
