First Digital Adult Reading Test Available on RuStore
HSE University's Centre for Language and Brain has developed the first standardised tool for assessing Russian reading skills in adults—the LexiMetr-A test. The test is now available digitally on the RuStore platform. This application allows for a quick and effective diagnosis of reading disorders, including dyslexia, in people aged 18 and older.
Reading skills are essential for a social and professional life. For millions of adults with reading impairments, the lack of a timely diagnosis can mean inaccessibility to quality education, career opportunities, and social support. However, for adults in Russia, there was no reliable tool or standard for objectively measuring reading proficiency or comparing results with normative data. The LexiMetr-A digital test fills this gap, offering professionals and researchers an effective way to assess the speed and accuracy of reading, as well as the level of reading comprehension.
Svetlana Dorofeeva
‘The development of LexiMetr-A was a logical consequence of our efforts to create linguistics-based tests for diagnosing speech and reading disorders in children. Adults with reading impairments also need age-appropriate tools,’ says Svetlana Dorofeeva, one of test developers and researcher at HSE University's Centre for Language and Brain.
The test has two parallel versions, one for initial diagnostics and the other for retesting or for assessing the effectiveness of interventions. The versions are balanced in terms of a number of psycholinguistic parameters, such as the length of words in syllables and in letters, the frequency of words, and the complexity of syntactic structures. Each text comes with a set of reading comprehension questions. After reading and marking errors, the application automatically calculates reading parameters and provides information about which syntactic structures were the most difficult. This level of detail is particularly useful for planning remedial work.
The application is aimed at specialists: speech therapists, neuropsychologists, and neurologists working in clinics, educational and research institutions. It includes age-appropriate cutoff levels for different user groups from 18 to 60+ years old, which ensures high diagnostic accuracy. The app replaces paper protocols, manual error counting, and voice recorders. All stages of the test—from text demonstration to error analysis—take place in a digital interface. The results, including audio recordings and markings, are uploaded in a useful format, making it easier to observe and draw conclusions.
The tool will enable informed decisions for selecting a future approach to working with reading difficulties or supporting adults with dyslexia. For instance, a confirmed dyslexia diagnosis could be taken into account by universities when determining a specific assessment system for students with such difficulties.
The developers emphasise that the test will be useful in both clinical and scientific application. The new tool collects an array of audio data and reading indicators, making it a valuable research tool for cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, and neuropsychology.
Olga Dragoy
‘Our goal is to make reading diagnostics more accessible and up-to-date. LexiMetr-A is not just a test; it is a practical tool that saves time, provides accurate results, and opens up new possibilities for helping people with dyslexia,’ comments Olga Dragoy, Director of the Centre for Language and Brain, HSE University.
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