Kindle Survey: Personalized Reading Tools Are Essential for Neurodivergent Readers

A new survey conducted by Amazon Kindle* reveals that nearly two-thirds of neurodivergent readers report abandoning books they were genuinely interested in because of issues with reading formats, and over half of neurodivergent readers say their confidence drops when reading takes longer than others.

"The barriers for neurodivergent readers often aren't with their motivation-they are with how the book is delivered," said Peter Korn, Director of Accessibility for Amazon Devices & Services. "When the book adapts to the individual, rather than the other way around,barriers melt away form any readers."

Neurodivergence & Reading Habits
But those numbers improve when given the ability to personalize their reading experience: 30% read for longer and 32% feel more confident.

It's estimated nearly one in five adults is neurodivergent**, which includes people with dyslexia, ADHD, autism,and processing differences. This means millions of adults are absorbing this friction when reading,impacting their enjoyment and ability to read.

Low confidence when reading creates barriers in a variety of ways for neurodivergent readers. Over a third read only in private and nearly two-thirds have avoided reading in certain places or around others because they feel self-conscious. It's also a matter of time and energy: Neurodivergent readers lose an average of eight minutes per reading session-nearly a whole day per year-re-reading sentences or paragraphs.

Reading Unapologetically with MissSunshine
MissSunshine, a high school teacher,content creator, and neurodivergent reader with a prosthetic eye, understands the confidence struggle when reading. Sunshine is featured in Amazon's debut "Unapologetica11y" campaign installment, a series spotlighting real customers with disabilities using Amazon devices in their everyday lives. The name of the series honors bold individuals living their life, using "a11y" as a numeronym for accessibility, with 11 letters between A and Y.

Sunshine reads on a Kindle Scribe device, which allows her to adjust features, including fonts and lighting,to match how her brain processes text on any given day.

"I use the Open Dyslexic text font on Kindle, which is where they adjust the font on the book to be one that is easier for people with dyslexia to read like myself," says Sunshine. "I also utilize the Assistive Reader feature, which is where the book itself will be read aloud to the scholar, whoever's reading it,my student or myself. It makes a huge difference for me when reading."

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"I'm a pretty slow reader in general, so it's a challenge to really enjoy a book when something that should take a couple hours to read takes me twice, sometimes three times as long to move through," says Sunshine. "Reading on a white background with black lettering is a struggle and I flip letters as I read, so I default to audiobooks, but the Kindle Scribe makes it a lot easier for me to access and enjoy literature since I can customize my Kindle Scribe experience for my needs on any given day. I can even save all my settings as my own theme, so I can easily get back to my default preferences. The ability to customize day to day makes a big difference for my reading comfort and enjoyment."

See more about Miss Sunshine and the new Unapolagetica11y campaign here.

Personalization in Action:Kindle Reading Features
Kindle's personalization and accessibility features include:

• Assistive Reader- Offers text-to-speech audio with synchronized underlining on the Kindle app and current-generation devices, helping readers with dyslexia or other disabilities focus on listening and comprehension.
• Font & Layout Customization- Allows readers to adjust font size and type (including Open Dyslexic), margins, spacing, alignment, page color, and dark mode to improve readability.
• Dark Mode-Changes surfaces like Home, Library, and Settings to create the visual experience that works best for you. You can even customize where and when you're using Dark Mode; for example, using Dark Mode for Home, Library, and Settings, while keeping notebooks in Light Mode.

Kindle's built-in accessibility features give readers quiet, private control over how text appears - no extra equipment or cost required, and no explanation needed. And all of these settings can be adjusted to a reader's personal preferences and needs, regularly or as needed - something the survey found matters deeply to neurodivergent readers who often mask their reading effort.

To learn more about Kindle's accessibility features,visit amazon.com/kindleaccessibility.