ABSTRACT
Reading is a complex process involving a wide range of physical, mental, and
environmental elements, any one of which can become a point of interruption
or interference for effective reading.
A substantial literature explores the causes and implications of various contexts
that contribute to reading difficulty. Issues that can make reading difficult include
• Physical problems related to vision or motor control
• Cognitive problems, such as aphasia due to a stroke, congenital cognitive
impairments, dyslexia, and memory loss from aging
• Low literacy due to poor schooling, lack of practice, limited access to
reading materials, lack of exposure to a culture of literacy, and other factors
• Reading in a nonnative language
Even skilled readers may experience moments when they have difficulty
reading due to causes such as
• Lack of time
• Fatigue
• Stress
• Lack of necessary background knowledge
• Technological limitations (e.g., reading on a mobile phone or PDA)
• Environmental challenges (e.g., reading in a crowded or noisy room or with
too little light)
What do we know about these problems? How different are the problems that
come from different causes and different situations? Despite those differences,
are there common solutions-ways of changing text that help many groups of
people who have difficulty reading?
