Angela Colter

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    User researcher and usability consultant Angela Colter has been designing information for people online and in print since 1997. She is a principal of design research at Electronic Ink in Philadelphia.

    Angela has presented at UPA, Confab, STC, IA Summit and Plain Language Association International conferences, and even contributed to a few chapters in Plain Language in Plain English by Cheryl Stephens.

     

     

    About Angela’s session

     

    The Audience You Didn’t Know You Had

    When creating content for your audience, it’s tempting to think that they’re just like you in terms of education and reading skill. But that’s likely not the case. Low literacy is a pervasive problem in most countries, affecting nearly half the population in the United States, UK and Australia. It’s even more severe in South Africa, where 18% of the population is illiterate.

    This talk will address the reading behaviours and information-seeking strategies of people with low literacy skills, present video clips from an eyetracking study of their online search strategies, and review guidelines for making your information easier for this audience to read, understand and use.

    What you will learn:

    - Common reading behaviours and information-seeking strategies of people with low literacy skills.
    - How the reading behaviours of adults with low literacy skills differ from people with adequate literacy skills.
    - Design guidelines for accommodating adults with low literacy skills.