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Article History

Received: 10 May 2024

Accepted: 20 May 2025

First Online: 2 June 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: The study "CNReader: a reading practice tool designed for Chinese children with developmental dyslexia" received ethics exemption qualification on May 7, 2023. The following constitutes the basis for exemption from ethical review. (1) Informed Consent: This study obtained written informed consent from participants between May 20 and May 25, 2023. The experimental subjects were children with mild reading disabilities and their parents. All age-appropriate children signed the Informed Consent Form, accompanied by their parents. The document explicitly stated the experimental objectives, content, and the scope of data utilization. Participants retained the right to withdraw at any time. The original consent forms were archived by the research team, with copies provided to the participating families. (2) Content of Experiments: The experimental tests involve reading exercises from standard educational materials, including reading tests of textbook passages and routine sentence tests (please refer to the experimental setup for details). (3) Design and Evaluation: The experimental design, test content, and data analysis were evaluated before the experiment by experienced primary school Chinese language teachers and parents. The reading exercises mirror those that commonly occur in daily classroom settings. (4) Exemption Criteria in China: According to the “Measures for Ethical Review of Life Sciences and Medical Research Involving Human Subjects” (issued by the National Health Commission of China, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology, and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, implemented on February 18, 2023), Article 32 stipulates that ethical review may be exempted for research that does not cause harm to the human body, does not involve sensitive personal information or commercial interests, in order to reduce unnecessary burden on researchers: Research utilizing legally obtained public data, or data generated through observation without interfering with public behavior; Research conducted using anonymized information and data. Based on the above considerations, this study was granted exemption from requiring ethics approval.

: In this study, all participants and their parents provided informed consent. The details are as follows: Prior to the commencement of the study, researchers provided comprehensive explanations to all child participants and their parents regarding the study objectives, procedures, potential risks, and benefits. All informed consent was obtained in written form before the study began, jointly signed by the participating children and their legal guardians (parents). The scope of informed consent included: participation in research activities, collection and utilization of personal data, and consent for anonymizing personal information. The consent form explicitly stated that participation was entirely voluntary, and participants could withdraw at any time without any negative consequences. As this study involved minors (first-grade children with mild reading disabilities), we specifically ensured the following. (1) Recruitment of participants was facilitated through school Chinese language teachers and homeroom teachers. (2) Age-appropriate language was used to explain the research content to children. (3) Consent was obtained from the children themselves as well as written permission from their legal guardians (parents). (4) School counselors and psychologists were available to provide support for children experiencing discomfort or distress. All participants’ personal information was anonymized and securely stored to protect their privacy and data security. Participants received gifts as compensation for their participation upon completion of the study.