Online Reading Research Project
Directors of the study: Dr Wolfgang Mann, Rachel O'Neill, & Dr Robin Thompson. Research Assistants: Pavundeep Johal and Freya Watkins
This collaborative research project was run between Universities of Roehampton, Birmingham and Edinburgh. The focus of this project was on reading skills online, which included both searching and comprehension of online texts.
As part of the project, we compare online reading strategies (ie, the use of graphics, text, multiple pages and review strategies) in hearing children who use English and deaf children, who use either English or British Sign Language as a preferred language.
Results
We have begun to produce papers on the results of the project, please check here for more information.
The first paper offers insights from a think-aloud study of strategies used by deaf and hearing children during online reading, the next looks at tracking eye movements of the children while reading online
Results have been published in Deafness & Education International.
- Wolfgang Mann, Rachel O'Neill, Freya Watkins & Robin L. Thompson (2023) Reading online in deaf and hearing young people: Do differences exist?, Deafness & Education International, 25:3, 203-227, DOI: 10.1080/14643154.2023.2207860 or Open Access
Research recruiting methodology
Below is the method used to recruit participants for the project, including translations of the project information and consent forms:
Deaf readers wanted!
Calling Teachers of Deaf Children and Speech Language Therapists
Is your school/service for deaf children supporting deaf students (moderate, severe, profound, CI) aged 13 - 14 who have good reading levels?
If you can think of a deaf student who would be a good candidate, please get in touch with us by contacting Rachel O’Neill (Rachel.oneill@ed.ac.uk).
Ideally you will have recent standardised reading score for your students. However, if you don’t have a recent standardised test result for a specific student, but he/she is likely the right level for this study, we are happy to send you a reading test. In this case, we will mark it for you and return the diagnostic profile for your use. If the young person is suitable for this study, we will ask you to contact the parents and give them an information sheet with consent form to take part, as well as a consent form to be videoed.
BSL Video Translation of Parent Information:
The study will involve a trip to the University of Birmingham where the assessments will take approximately 3-4 hours including breaks. We will cover travel costs for both the young person and a parent or member of staff. The day can be on a weekday or a weekend.
Please email Rachel on rachel.oneill@ed.ac.uk to arrange a time to suit you. We pay travel expenses for the deaf young person and carer to attend with you, plus £10 cash for the young person. Please keep receipts of travel expenses.
We are particularly keen to find more young deaf people who use BSL fluently (they may also use speech).
Parents of Deaf Children
Forms
We offer the information sheet and forms in 3 formats: Word documents, PDFs and BSL video translations:
- BSL Video Translation of Parent Consent form
- Video Consent form
- Video Consent - PDF Version
- BSL Video Translation of Video Consent form
Contact Information
In case of any questions about this research, please email Wolfgang Mann or Rachel O’Neill.
Special thanks
This project has been made possible with funding from the British Academy, ESRC and Leverhulme Trust:
Website created by the Scottish Sensory Centre, Edinburgh (Updated 2025)
