Distractability+and+Readability+App

=Using Readability to Aid with Focus in Students with Distractability=

The Internet and most web pages are meant to be consumed by visual people. As organizations and individuals turn to the Internet as a source of income and attempt to monetize their information, the actual content on the web page can get lost in the shuffle. Many times autoplay videos are embedded into the web page, and the user - the actual consumer of the content - must either sit through the video or turn it off completely. Along the sides of the web pages, link and other “helpful” information is usually provided by the owner, which again serves as a means of making money. All of this is fine for most people, but if the user is easily distracted as many people with attention deficit disorder (ADD) are, these web pages pose a serious stumbling block for knowledge acquisition while using the Internet. Having ADD does not necessarily mean that one will also have a reading disability, but frequently, individuals will have lower reading comprehension due to their inability to focus for long periods of time. Imagine opening a web page intending to complete an assigned reading only to find the videos and sound bites and advertisements too challenging to allow for full attention.

Readability is a free web 2.0 tool that allows readers to “clean up cluttered pages” and focus on the text and photos from the articles. In addition, readers can save articles for later if they are unable to finish it or if they need to refer back to the article. A user must first create an account and then download the app. Once Readability is installed as a button on the browser’s toolbar, the user simply has to click on the button once they encounter a web page that needs decluttering. Apps are available for Apple, Android, and Chrome and work across platforms for accessibility. In addition, Readability works on laptops, tablets, phones, and electronic readers such as Kindles and Nooks that are Internet capable. The user has the ability to dictate how the text is displayed based on personal preference with regards to size, color, and background color of the page. Readability also is compatible with most screen readers, so individuals with visual impairment do not have to navigate through a variety of links in order to read the text.

While Readability is a great addition to an educator’s toolkit, there are barriers to its use. First, because this is something that must be downloaded, adding it to a district provided device might pose a problem as most educators are not able to simply download an application. Demonstrating need and purpose might be required in many districts by going through the appropriate steps in one’s IT department. Also, because Readability does not automatically strip an article of items that may be distracting, it is up to the user to enable the application each time they are on a web page. This may become fatiguing to a person, and they might decide that Readability is not worth the effort.

Through proper instruction and reinforcement, users can come to instinctively click on Readability when they come to a web page where there are distracting videos and graphics. Educators who choose to use Readability with their students can begin to model it on a daily basis so that all students - not just those with ADD or visual impairment - can use Readability to make their web pages free from the distracting videos and pop-up advertisements.

Referenced websites and articles:

Readability - @https://www.readability.com/ Clear Helper: Tutorials Accessible to People of All Abilities - http://www.clearhelper.org/resources/cwa/readability/Others/ The Screens Culture: Impact on ADHD - @http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3220824/