Teachers can customize options for information display and program control. Features such as variable text size and color, talking buttons, scanning for single switch access, and read-aloud options support students with varied learning styles, disabilities, and linguistic backgrounds. The Wiggleworks software runs on personal computers equipped with audio and graphic capabilities. Students using the program sit at the computer and flip through pages of the electronic storybook in much the same way as they would with a real book. On each page students see a drawing or illustration accompanying the text.
Users can read the text independently, or can request a number of support options.
Clicking various option buttons on the screen, students can hear the entire page read to them, or can choose for the computer to identify individual words or phrases that give them difficulty. Users can spend as little or as much time reading and re-reading passages until the text becomes clear to them, and the computer provides the individualized support that students need to complete the story. Many spend so much time concentrating on the initial stages of reading that they never fully develop fluency at the word level and grapple with the more complex issue of text comprehension. Research has recently suggested that effective reading instruction for students with learning disabilities must focus on activities that will strengthen their decoding and word reading skills to support, rather than detract from, text comprehension. Wiggleworks software addresses these concerns about the relationship between fluency and comprehension by providing students with practice on basic reading skills within the broader context of text comprehension.