Best apps for people with dyslexia

First thing’s first: What’s dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a learning difference that can make it harder for people to read, write, and spell. While dyslexia in no way affects intelligence, dyslexics often have difficulty decoding words, recognising letters and sounds, and processing information quickly.

For kids, dyslexia can make it difficult for them to learn in a traditional way, and without the right support, it can affect their confidence and self-esteem. These days, there’s far more support in schools for dyslexia than there used to be. But it’s also important to remember that dyslexia isn’t something you outgrow. So even as an adult, dyslexia can make the world of work feel frustrating.

According to the British Dyslexia Association, about 10% of the population is believed to have some form of dyslexia, so it’s far more common than you might think! Fortunately, technology has made huge strides in supporting people with dyslexia. In this article, we’ll explore some of the best apps available to help adults with dyslexia overcome their daily challenges.

How can technology help people with dyslexia?

There are many apps out there that can help dyslexic people go about their day-to-day lives with ease. These apps can provide:

• Text-to-speech: This feature reads text aloud, which can help people who have difficulty reading
• Highlighting: Apps that highlight important words or phrases can help you stay focused on the text
• Font customisation: Some fonts are more accessible for dyslexic readers. San Serif fonts, in a larger than average text, usually make reading a lot easier
• Games and activities: There are tonnes of apps out there that can help make learning more engaging for students with dyslexia

6 best apps for people with dyslexia

1. Grammarly

For dyslexic individuals who struggle with spelling and grammar, Grammarly is a lifesaver. It not only corrects errors but also provides explanations to help you learn from your mistakes.

Download the Grammarly App for free at the App Store or Google Play store.

Features:

• Grammar and spell-checking
• Sentence structure suggestions
• Plagiarism detection

2. Read&Write for Google Chrome

Read&Write for Google Chrome is a free Chrome extension that offers a whole host of tools to help people with dyslexia and other reading and writing difficulties. It can read text aloud, highlight important words or phrases, change the font and background colour, and more.

Get the Read&Write App for free on Android and IOS.

Features:

• Text-to-speech and speech-to-text capabilities
• Word prediction and highlighting tools
• Simplified reading view

3. Voice Dream Reader

Voice Dream Reader allows dyslexic readers to listen to all sorts of written content, making it easier to understand. The app works for everything from books to articles and websites; it’s even PDF-compatible.

Download the app for free on IOS. (The app is yet to be made available on Android.)

Features:

• Text-to-speech functionality
• Multiple languages and voices
• Customisable fonts and backgrounds

4. MindMeister

MindMeister is an online mind-mapping app that allows users to create, share, and collaborate on mind maps. Though it’s not made specifically for people with dyslexia, MindMeister can help dyslexic thinkers organise their thoughts visually so that they can plan and structure their written tasks with greater ease.

Try the MindMeister app for free on Apple and Android.

Features:

• Mind mapping and brainstorming tool
• Visual organisation of ideas
• Collaboration features

5. Dyslexia.ai

The Dyslexia.ai app is perfect for adults who have recently discovered their dyslexia. The app offers lots of short, simple games to help improve literacy skills, including targeted exercises for reading, spelling, phonics, rhyming, and vowel sounds.

The Dyslexia.ai app is available for free on IOS.

Features:

• Gamified learning
• Assess and improve key skills like phonological awareness and working memory
• Provides detailed progress reports

6. Kindle

Did you know that Amazon’s Kindle and Kindle App have features specially designed for people with dyslexia? The leading e-reader, Kindle provides reading with customisable dyslexic-friendly fonts, spacing and the ability to make text larger or smaller. It’s even possible to change the background colour of pages, which can make reading easier for some people with dyslexia.

Download the Kindle App for free on IOS or Android. (Books are priced individually by Amazon.)

Features:

• Dyslexic-friendly fonts like “OpenDyslexic” and “Bookerly”
• Ability to change font size, spacing and page colour
• Text-to-speech functionality

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