Guide to good symbol content

What are symbol summaries?

A symbol summary consists of up to four fully symbolised sentences that explain all or part of a document. A symbol summary is an ideal way of providing symbol support for a document which will need to be accessed by both symbol readers and non-symbol readers, allowing symbol readers to understand the content’s main messages without altering the body of the text.

Where would a symbol summary be used?

Websites
Due to symbol summaries taking up more space than key symbols and symbol highlights, they are particularly appropriate at providing symbol support to web content, where space is likely to be less limited than in printed documents.

Symbol summaries also work very well in education websites which are accessed by both pupils who are able readers and pupils who need an extra ‘helping hand’ in understanding written text. By adding a symbol summary to a page, students who would otherwise struggle to read the text on the page are able to understand the content’s main messages without having to rely upon help, giving a sense of independence.

Documents
Including a symbol summary is the ideal way to provide symbol support for existing text that cannot be simplified or altered due to the original text needing to remain in its entirety, such as a document that is intended to be an inclusive document for a wider audience, rather than exclusively for symbol readers or for non-symbol readers, or content that contains legal or other important information that cannot be reworded.