Abstract:

Reading fluently is a necessary skill for any future learning, regardless of discipline. However, Dyslexia is a universal reading impairment in which each person with Dyslexia has a set of fundamental reading problems making this fluency hard to obtain. Over the last couple of decades, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) interventions have become more common in addressing Dyslexia; where they have been introduced to students to help in overcoming their difficulties. However, such an advanced topic has not been investigated thoroughly in Saudi Arabia. Hence, the needs and characteristics of dyslexic students in Saudi Arabia are considered in this paper. Much of the previous research in this area when dealing with the Arabic language has not considered system design that can help dyslexic students nor considered quantitative measurements and examinations of the system's efficacy in Arabic countries. The contribution of this paper is to evaluate the proposed game-based mobile application to help students with Dyslexia. The proposed application aims to improve students’ reading skills and ensure students’ satisfaction while learning. Forty-five students with Dyslexia participated in the experiment, aged between eight to ten years old, from different primary schools in Saudi Arabia. The findings analysis demonstrates that the proposed game-based mobile application aids in improving reading skills for the participants. The participants showed very positive behaviours towards the proposed mobile application, leading to a high level of satisfaction. Thus, it is considered a supportive tool to enhance students with Dyslexia to overcome their reading difficulties and effectively foster the learning process.

Keywords:

Dyslexia, Saudi Arabia, Mobile Application, Dyslexic students, HCI.