the first and only Facebook application directly
<http://apps.facebook.com/ghotitspeller/> targeting Facebook users with
dyslexia.
As part of the coming up Dyslexia Awareness Week (Nov 1-7) Ghotit is
releasing a new Facebook Spell Checker application. This is the first and
only Facebook application directly targeting Facebook users with dyslexia.
'Hidden Dyslexia' is the theme of Dyslexia Awareness Week 2010, developed to
raise awareness of the challenges faced by people with a disability that
presents no visible physical signs to the outside world. When a person with
dyslexia communicates through Facebook, the fact that he is dyslexic is
usually not known and his Facebook friends may misinterpret his bad
spelling.
Social network's main means of communication is writing of posts, comments
and messages. Dyslexics with writing difficulties often find it challenging
to actively participate in social networks such as Facebook. They are
concerned with their potentially embarrassing spelling mistakes.
Facebook does not support a spell checking service. However, any Facebook
user using the Google Chrome or Firefox browsers can use the browsers'
built-in spell checker. However, these spell checkers were not designed for
people with writing disabilities, such as dyslexics. These spell checker
address the needs of mainstream writers who occasionally misspell. The
Ghotit Spell Checker was developed to address the severe spelling of
dyslexics.
The Ghotit Spell Checker's algorithms are based on an analysis of the
context of a sentence, and include intelligent phonetic and grammar
correction algorithms. The result is accurate corrections to severely
misspelled words that regular spell checkers have no clue with which words
to correct.
The "Ghotit Spell Checker for People with Dyslexia" is a Facebook
application that corrects the spelling of posts. The new Facebook
application is very easy to use. Just type the text inside the Ghotit Spell
Checker frame. Ghotit then offers corrections to both misspelled and misused
(e.g the word "their" instead of "there") words, as well as grammar errors.
Once corrected, the user simply shares the text with his Facebook friends.
"The new Ghotit Spell Checker Facebook application will be valuable to any
Facebook user feeling awkward with his spelling. Using the Ghotit Spell
Checker, dyslexic users will quickly see a dramatic improvement in their
writing quality" says Ofer Chermesh, founder of Ghotit, and lifelong
dyslexic. "Social networks have revolutionized how people communicate, and
without a supportive environment people with dyslexia may find themselves on
the sidelines of the online global discussion."
Ofer Chermesh
www.Ghotit.com <http://www.ghotit.com/>
http://www.facebook.com/Ghotit
http://dyslexia-blog.ghotit.com/
http://twitter.com/ghotit
[ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=128874 ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
