The Design and Development of an Online Multimedia Language Assistant for Arabic-Speaking Web Users with Dyslexia Ohoud Al-Harbi, Areej Al-Wabil, Nora Al-Arfaj, Lamya Al-Hathlool, Maha Al-Ghofaily, Dania Madani Department of Software Engineering, College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia omalharbi@ksu.edu.sa, aalwabil@ksu.edu.sa, naalarfaj@ksu.edu.sa Abstract— Cognitive processing of written language is a key challenge for people with Learning Difficulties in general and Dyslexia in particular. In this paper, we describe the design and development of a browser plug-in to facilitate access to multimedia representations of Arabic words in web content. The Multimedia Dictionary provides access to audio of spoken pronunciation of a selected word, displays a representative static image, an animated representation, and a video clip describing the meaning of Arabic web content. The MMD architecture and its interaction design are described and the advantages of such language assistance for people with dyslexia are discussed. Keywords— Learning Difficulties, LD, SpLD, Dyslexia, Multimedia, Browser, Arabic Web Content, Accessibility I. INTRODUCTION Dyslexia is a learning difficulty which leads to problems in the ability to read and spell. It is independent of socio- economic factors and occurs despite having normal or above average intellectual abilities. Prior research has shown that people who have dyslexia are often visual thinkers, and their auditory and visual capabilities are often intact. In other words, they can see and hear well, however the disorder may manifest itself in the individual in the form of processing what they see and hear (i.e. visual processing and auditory processing difficulties). Thus they can benefit from multimodal representations of concepts expressed in written language which express a complex concept or a meaning of a word in different forms. It is well known that no two dyslexics are like, so the representation that may be appropriate for one reader may not be the most appropriate for another reader. From this concept, the idea of facilitating access to several multimedia representations for words in Arabic content on the web emerged. In our system, which we call Multimedia dictionary (MMD), we utilize multimodal presentations to stimulate an individual’s cognitive abilities. This consequently is envisioned to help them overcome difficulties associated with dyslexia and to learn develop their language processing skills in order to read with minimal effort. This paper describes the multimedia dictionary that we developed, MMD. MMD is comprised of a browser add-on tool that links words to their multimedia representations such as video, audio, animation and static images. These representations provide a convenient and efficient way of supporting individuals with dyslexia in acquiring the meaning of the word in a format that is understandable and accessible to their way of thinking. II. RELATED WORK: DYSLEXIA SOFTWARE In recent years, different software solutions have been designed to help people with learning disabilities [1-6]. These technology solutions can be broadly categorized as programs for supporting them in writing, reading, and in cognitive training such as working memory. Table 1 presents an overview of these categories and a few examples for each category. Type of Technology Support Example(s) Writing: These programs help people with reading difficulties in writing such as spell checks, highlighting, and predictive text appropriate to the problems that they experience. Read & Write Gold Ginger dyslexia tool PenFriend Reading: These programs support in accessing written text with text-to- speech facilities and word-by-word emphasis Confident Reader [11] Memory: Short Term Memory Memory Challenge [10] Screening: Cognitive Abilities, STM and Phonological Processing Lucid (Lads) [13] Taibah Screening [1,4]