This YouVersion Bible App Option Helps People With Dyslexia to Read God’s Word

For the millions of people around the world who live with the learning disability known as dyslexia, connecting to God’s Word can be tough and quite often discouraging, but a special feature provided by YouVersion is changing all that.

Chris Vaughn is a YouVersion team member who has struggled with reading because of his dyslexia. After using an OpenDyslexic font in other apps and experiencing improvement, Vaughn wanted to make it available in the YouVersion Bible App.

“I’ve always struggled with reading comprehension,” said Vaughn. “It has been a source of shame, but having YouVersion care about my needs has helped me feel seen and supported.”

The YouVersion Bible App first added the OpenDyslexic font in 2020. It features larger words and line spacing and its uniquely weighted letters help people differentiate between words and sentences more easily.

Vaughn hopes the font will give others the ability to focus on the power of God’s Word instead of expending so much energy just to read what it says.

“Instead of listening for the Holy Spirit, their brains are busy trying to decode the words on the page,” said YouVersion in a press statement. 

Since its launch, the mobile Bible app has received positive feedback from the dyslexic community with many sharing that the special font, combined with listening to an audio Bible, has helped them to better engage and comprehend Scripture. 

“I’m thankful God has allowed me to help improve the Bible App for so many people like me,” said Vaughn.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.*** 

As CBN News has reported, YouVersion has had about 700 million installations of the Bible App on mobile devices around the globe.

One of its most recent projects includes Bible App Lite, which requires no internet connection.

The app is designed for users in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia and can be used entirely offline.

The Bible App Lite gives users access to key features like audio Bibles, verses of the day, and prayers all the while keeping phone storage space light.

According to the Alliance for Affordable Internet, Africa is one region of the globe that has the least access to the internet, but YouVersion is allowing Christians on the continent to access the Bible without it.

The Bible App Lite has also launched in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

“Our desire is to reach every person, in every part of the world, with God’s Word in their heart language,” said Bobby Gruenewald, YouVersion’s founder in a statement. “This new app enables us to reach tens of millions of new people that were difficult to reach with the media-rich Bible App.”