Many thanks to those who replied to my request about library signage and shelf labelling for dyslexic students, and for the details of other
services that are being delivered and planned.  I've summarised the feedback, just to keep this message reasonably concise, so if anyone
wants the full replies just let me know, and I'll forward them on to you.

Central St Martins is looking at the possibility of colour coding subject areas in the library, assigning colours to subjects and putting
strips of colour on shelf labels and shelf end labels.  They have begun a pilot scheme -  starting with fashion and putting shocking pink
blocks of colour on shelf and shelf end labels.  Different ways of labelling shelves have been considered.  In consultation with the
Dyslexia Focus Group they are considering other colours using various shades of blue for art - with different hues for painting, sculpture,
photography etc. Science might be green, computing might be silver etc.

Glasgow School of Art has gone for 12 point helvetica type on a yellow background for spine labels, and up to 18 point helvetica type on a
yellow background for shelf guides.

The Slide Collection of the Royal College of Art has labelled their cabinets with coloured tape printed on a "Brother" lettering machine
using a variety of colours eg., blue, red, green, yellow.  The size of the lettering can be altered according to the width of the tape used,
eg. from nearly one inch high to quite tiny.  The scheme was commended in a recent review.

Duncan Chappell undertook an evaluation of services to dyslexic students as part of his MSc , and in terms of signage, recommended the use
of black text on a pale yellow or cream background.  He also suggested using "You are here" orientation maps, developing vocabularies of
colour and shape to designate particular types of sign (for example using triangular signs and the colour red for warnings),  and greater
use of graphical and pictorial symbols.  Generally, most adults with dyslexia prefer a 14-point font at 1.5 line spacing, unjustified,
Arial.  Use bullet points instead of continuous text, and use bold rather than capitals or italics.

A couple of people recommended "Understanding dyslexia: an introduction for dyslexic students in higher education", written and researched
by Jill Hammond and Fabian Hercules and available at:-
 http://www.gsa.ac.uk/access/dyslexia/under/

At Sheffield Hallam we're planning on using very general colour coding on floor plans, shelf end guides, and descriptive labels on shelves,
probably with pale blue for the art section, pale green for design and pale yellow for film and media.  The University's Dyslexia Support
Unit are keen on the idea, so we'll be running a pilot at the Psalter Lane Campus and getting feedback from dyslexic students.  If
successful we hope to extend the scheme to the other sites.

Gillian Varley points out that ALJ will be publishing an article on helping dyslexic students in the first issue for 2003. There are also
workshops relating to dyslexia in this year's conference in Glasgow.

Richard Swift
Sheffield Hallam University