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The Widgit Symbols Development Project 2000-2002
Widgit Software Ltd, 2002

The Widgit Literacy Symbols (previously know as Widgit Rebus), are line drawings in a schematic structure for supporting literacy.

The new Widgit Literacy Symbols collection was launched in October 2002. This was the result of a two year development project involving many practitioners.

The colour symbols were added in Jan 2005 and released with Communicate: In Print 2.

The important features of the symbol set are:

A clear schematic structure enabling language development
Clear consistent line drawings with minimum clutter
The inclusion of grammatical markers for more advanced users
Extended vocabulary covering up-to-date topics

A Brief History
Aims of the project
Project organistion and management
Implementation

The Symbol Designs

There were many aspects to the symbol design that was considered. These ranged from technical considerations such as line thickness, through to the use of tones and colour to identify specific parts of a symbol. This section describes many of the decisions made and some of the rationale behind them.

Buildings rooms and shops

Businesses and organisations

Emphasising part of a symbol

Prepositions, distance/size, time and days

Standard Elements

Plurals

People Family and Faces

Medical and Therapy

Groups and categories and subjects

Tenses

Pronouns

Combined words and comparatives