Yes, I agree. Maybe if you’re a fast reader icons don’t do much, but for people who are illiterate (20% of America) they figure out how to use tech by memorizing the icons and locations of buttons.

▲

inejge 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

There's illiteracy, and there's functional illiteracy. They're not the same, and people often confuse the two. A literally illiterate person (ha!) wouldn't make headway with almost any realistic computer interface, icons or not.

The 20% statistic is about people who have great trouble reading and comprehending simple sentences, not discerning individual words. It's tragic and debilitating, but such people could muddle through a simple interface with textual labels. A truly illiterate person couldn't.

▲

sbarre 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Is this just your belief presented as fact, or do you have some data to back this up?

(Not the literacy stat but the fact that illiterate people "figure out how to use tech by memorizing the icons and locations of buttons").

	▲	Arch485 2 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Well, if you're unable to read, you're not going to figure out what the buttons do by reading the textual labels :p Further, if you have difficulty reading, it's easier to parse the meaning of an abstract symbol, so you'd use that instead of a textual label when available. (I say this as someone who is a really slow reader. I use icons when I can)
	▲	mercury4063 a day ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Watch a small child use a computer.