More about the ELIA® Alphabet Design

Good engineering is simple engineering.  The new, patented ELIA® Alphabet for the visually impaired adheres to this philosophy.   It was designed using well-established human factors engineering and ergonomic principles and, consequently, resembles the Roman alphabet and utilizes frames to make differentiation and navigation easy.

The two major engineering principles were applied to make the ELIA® Alphabet easier to learn and read.  Those two principles are: 1) to build on the user's existing knowledge to facilitate learning, and 2) when designing a symbol to use frames, or surrounds, to facilitate accurate and quick identification.  While application of the first of these principles makes the ELIA® Alphabet quick and easy to learn, the second principle makes it easily scaleable, and enables readers to accurately identify the letters and read it more quickly than Braille.  

The ELIA® Alphabet design incorporates these principles, by:

1) Building on the reader's existing knowledge and skills by using symbols that resemble the Roman alphabet.

The ELIA® Alphabet's symbols use the major characteristics of the Roman alphabet, enabling readers to easily memorize the symbols.  In 24 of the 26 ELIA® Alphabet letters readers can find a major characteristic of the Roman letter using the outside frame and/or the interior of the frame.  In many, the readers can find the whole letter within the frame and its interior elements. 

Some really simple examples of this principle that are commonly used in computer programs are the "cut" symbol(a pair of scissors) and the "save" symbol(a disk).  Those symbols look as you would expect them to.  Technology allows us to use the above symbols, instead of something less representative that would require more memorization.  An example of another alphabet that uses similar engineering principles is the Palm Pilot Graffiti, which also builds on users' existing knowledge of the Roman alphabet. 

2) Helping readers distinguish between the end of one symbol and the beginning of the next by using frames.

Each ELIA letter has a frame that encloses every aspect of the letter, so a reader can trace the outside of a symbol and not confuse it with the next symbol.

3) Helping readers to use deductive reasoning to quickly identify letters by using two different shaped frames for the letters (circles and squares).

The ELIA® Alphabet letters have either a circular or square frame.  The letters A through D (A, B, C & D) and the letters O through S (O, P, Q, R & S) all have circular frames. If the reader finds a circular frame he or she knows it is a letter A through D or O through S.  If the reader finds a circular frame he or she knows it is a letter A through D or O through S. If the reader finds a square frame then that letter has to be one of the other 17 letters of the alphabet, E through N (E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M or N) or T through Z (T, U, V, W, X, Y or Z). If a person can feel the difference between a circle and a square frame, and they know the letters of the Roman alphabet, they will most likely be able to learn the ELIA® Alphabet.

4)Enabling readers to quickly and systematically explore ELIA letters by incorporating frames.

All of the ELIA® Alphabet letters use a frame, so readers can systematically explore the symbols. The same finger movements can be repeated for each letter, and as readers master the skill needed for these movements they can gain reading speed and accuracy.