What is Askability?

Askability is a website aimed at children with limited reading ability, which is presented entirely in fully symbol-supported text.

The website was inspired by staff at The Children’s Society Solihull, after seeing how easy is was for children they worked with to misunderstand the news about the war in Iraq. They identified away for children with learning disabilities and limited reading ability to find out about current affairs, and realised that a website presented entirely in symbols could revolutionise communication for these children.

The result is Askability– a website featuring local and national events and news stories, as well as fun and interactive content, all in simply-written, fully-symbolised text.

This guide explains each section of the website, and gives guidance on how you can help children to get the most out of Askability.

Askability website

 

 

Interaction and communication

A key element of Askability is the encouragement it gives its users to get involved by contributing to its content. As well as being given a wide variety of features, stories and reviews to read, children using the website are encouraged to take time to reflect on what they have read, think about how it affects them, and even write their own contribution to the website.

Askability empowers and involves users, giving them an accessible way to share their thoughts and ideas within their local and national community.

 

 

The symbols on Askability


The content on the askability webiste is fully symbolised using widgit symbols

 

The website’s content is written in simple language with full symbol support to help users understand the content.  

If you are familiar with symbols, particularly with Widgit Symbols; and how they work, you should find Askability easy to navigate and read.

If you are unfamiliar with Widgit Symbols, it may be helpful to look at the relevant section on Widgit Symbols at the end of this guide. This will give you an understanding of Widgit Symbols, and will help you explain them to the students.

 

The next section gives an overview of the different area within the Askability: Next

 

Go to Askability.org.uk