Wednesday 12 August 2009

T-Bar

Scotopic Sensitivity, also known as Irlen Syndrome is a visual perceptual problem. The problems lies in how the visual information is decoded, it is not a medical eye condition. People with Scotopic Sensitivity 'see' the printed page differently to others and may even be unaware of this. This can lead to slow and inefficient reading, poor comprehension, fatigue and limited attention span. 

Many people with Scotopic Sensitivity report that the text on the page appears to dither, making reading difficult. Educational Psychologist Helen Irlen observed in 1980 that coloured overlays helped students with Scotopic Sensitivity to read with greater ease. 

It is possible to use acetate overlays or rulers for printed materials, and in some cases the use of specially designed spectacles with coloured lenses can be beneficial. When working on a computer, for most instances, the Windows default colours can be adjusted to suit the individual, however if you use software such as server based database systems, or your IT department have locked access to the screen options then you are stuck with the default colour settings. 

This is where we would like to introduce T-Bar to you. T-Bar is a coloured bar which you can either drag around the screen or lock to your mouse. It can have ruled lines or not, depending on your preference. The colour can be chosen from pre-defined options, then tweaked by altering the red, green or blue sliders to get the perfect colour, the transparency level can be adjusted, again to suit the individual. All the settings are saved between sessions, so there is no need to readjust the next time you use it.