Specific learning disorders affect a significant portion of the population. A total of 80% of its instances are dyslexia, which causes significant difficulties in learning skills related to reading, memorizing and the exposition of concepts. Whereas great efforts have been made to diagnose dyslexia and to mitigate its effects at primary and secondary school, little has been done at the university level. This has resulted in a sensibly high rate of abandonment or even of failures to enroll. The VRAIlexia project was created to face this problem by creating and popularizing an innovative method of teaching that is inclusive for dyslexic students. The core of the project is BESPECIAL, a software platform based on artificial intelligence and virtual reality that is capable of understanding the main issues experienced by dyslexic students and to provide them with ad hoc digital support methodologies in order to ease the difficulties they face in their academic studies. The aim of this paper is to present the conceptual design of BESPECIAL, highlighting the role of each module that composes it and the potential of the whole platform to fulfil the aims of VRAIlexia. Preliminary results obtained from a sample of about 700 dyslexic students are also reported, which clearly show the main issues and needs that dyslexic students experience and these will be used as guidelines for the final implementation of BESPECIAL.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that causes issues related to reading, which affects around 10% of the worldwide population. This can compromise comprehension and memorization skills, and result in anxiety and lack of self-esteem, if no support is provided. Moreover, this support should be highly personalized, to be actually helpful. In this paper, a model to classify the most useful methodologies to support students with dyslexia has been created, with a focus on university alumni. The prediction algorithm is based on supervised machine learning techniques; starting from the issues that dyslexic students experience during their career, it is capable of suggesting customized support digital tools and learning strategies for each of them. The algorithm was trained and tested on data acquired through a self-evaluation questionnaire, which was designed and then spread to more than 1200 university students. It allowed 17 useful tools and 22 useful strategies to be detected. The results of the testing showed an average prediction accuracy higher than 90%, which rises to 94% by renouncing to guess the less-predictable 8 tools/strategies. In the light of this, it is possible to state that the implemented algorithm can achieve the set goal and, thus, reduce the gap between dyslexic and non-dyslexic students. This achievement paves the way for a new modality of facing the problem of dyslexia by university institutions, which aims at modifying teaching activities toward students’ needs, instead of simply reducing their study load or duties. This complies with the definition and the aims of inclusivity.

This paper proposes an innovative methodology for enhancing museum accessibility and inclusivity for visitors with specific learning disorders (SLDs) using audio-visual interfaces based on patented technology. The approach involves analyzing user preferences and dyslexic students’ self-assessments through two questionnaires. This study gathered 126 responses from both SLD-certified individuals and those without intellectual disabilities for the first questionnaire and over 1300 responses exclusively from SLD-certified individuals for the second. Results suggest practical solutions such as new visual effects, gamification methods, and user-friendly informational materials linked to an AI system. These findings serve as guidelines for developing technology to improve museum accessibility, particularly for individuals with SLDs.

This work introduces the design, implementation, and validation of a virtual reality (VR) experience aimed at promoting the inclusion of individuals with dyslexia in university settings. Unlike traditional awareness methods, this immersive approach offers a novel way to foster empathy by allowing participants to experience firsthand the challenges faced by students with dyslexia. Specifically, the experience raises awareness by exposing non-dyslexic individuals to the difficulties commonly encountered by dyslexic students. In the virtual environment, participants explore a virtual campus with multiple buildings, navigating between them while completing tasks and simultaneously encountering barriers that simulate some of the challenges faced by individuals with dyslexia. These barriers include reading signs with shifting letters, following directional arrows that may point incorrectly, and dealing with a lack of assistance. The campus is a comprehensive model featuring both indoor and outdoor spaces and supporting various modes of locomotion. To validate the experience, more than 30 non-dyslexic participants from the university environment, mainly professors and students, evaluated it through ad hoc satisfaction surveys. The results indicated heightened awareness of the barriers encountered by students with dyslexia, with participants deeming the experience a valuable tool for increasing visibility and fostering understanding of dyslexic students.