Read the recent ‘A Conceptual Framework for Accessibility Tools to Benefit Users with Cognitive Disabilities‘ report from WebAIM, its clear that there’s one overriding concern that has to be addressed before we can successfuly design websites for users with cognitive disabilities. We need to know our audience.
As web designers we (I hope!) perform extensive usability testing with differing Scenarios. I wonder how much of that testing concentrates on accessibility? When we develop our Personas do we cater for our markets and forget that some in these markets are disabled? Some even are cognitively disabled. I’m willing to bet that we don’t. In fact I’m willing to bet that lots of web designers don’t even build Scenarios let alone build Personas representing disabled members of the target markets to move through those Scenarios.
Its easier for the majority of web designers to not bother. And for some web designers who make the laudable decision to make their sites accessible, there’s a belief that simply adhering to Priority 1 (A) of the WCAG means they’ve done all they need to. I know I’m guilty of this on occassion.
However laudable and useful doing this is or isn’t, its still not addressing the key point – we, as web designers, don’t make enough effort to know this sub-group of our audience. We read articles telling us to validate to WCAG standards and we do it but that should not absolve us from getting to know our audience better. The use of Personas and Scenarios has given us a massively useful way of getting to know key users but they are based on aspects of ourselves or people that we know as well as aset of marketing data. The last time you built a set of Personas how many of them had Downs Syndrome? How many were wheelchair bound? I’ll be honest – I have the advantage of having an autistic daughter and thus have an insight into that condition and ways in which I can account for that group of users but 9 times out of 10 my Personas are based solely on marketing data – ages, gender, income, likes, political beliefs, religious beliefs.
Why is this? We’ve all taken on board the figures – the disabled community have a vast amount of spending power – but can we really say we feel comfortable at knowing how we meet these users needs. No, we can’t. Why? Because we don’t know them. Our liberal upbringings state that we need to see the people, not the disability and for all aspects of social interaction I totally agree. But when it comes to building something that works then we need to see the people and the disability. We need to be curious – how does someone with Downs Syndrome percieve an icon? How does someone with Dyslexia read content? What thought processes lead an autistic to make a choice from navigation options?
We won’t know until we ask. Its not rude to ask. Its not rude to be curious. Its rude to assume. I’m not suggesting that you patronisingly go out and befriend everyone you can find with some kind of cognitive disability but what I am suggesting is next time you go to the effort of building Personas for usability testing, try and include someone with autism, or someone with ADD, or a generic learning difficulty. And don’t make the disability an appendage, make it what it is – an integral part of who that person is. If you need (as I do) to learn more about cognitive disabilities then don’t research it on the internet, don’t chat to people on a forum – include these people in your focus groups, get to know them and your Personas will become more accurate as a result.
Left Brain Right Brain 
Point taken, but there are severe limitations to what one can do in terms of designing with mental disabilities in mind.
Standards has made many people aware of programming with physical disabilities in mind, ie, making websites accessible for JAWs and other screenreaders. Designers are pretty flexible on these points (for example, after a ream of articles about a year ago, everyone now uses text:indent and overflow:hidden instead of display:none for the advantage of screenreaders). It’s relatively easy make choices to program for blindness, or colour blindness. There are clearcut approaches and rules to follow.
It’s much more difficult with cognative abilities. “How does someone with Downs Syndrome percieve an icon?” Probably not the same as this other person with Downs Syndrome over here. Gauging reaction to stimuli is almost impossible on an individual basis. And how do we allow for those with a severe phobia to green? I don’t mean to trivialise it, I’m just saying that once you take cognative differences into account, variation on perception is almost infinite.
I guess what it comes down to is that it’s no easier to gauge the user experience of a mentally disabled person than it is a “normal” person. Which as we all know is the most difficult thing to quantify.
Likewise: point taken ;o)
I’m not saying we should cater for every individual with every particular type of cognitive disability as thats patently impossible. I guess what I’m concerned about is the lack of strategy. It is entirely possible to extropalate a set of guiding principles for a variety of cogntive disabilities – much as we do for users with varying physical/sensory disabilities. A good example is the use of a narrow line length and decent leading.
This lack of strategy – of a set of principles – is something that can only be tackled when we get to know these audience members, until we do that we can never really know for sure what we can or can’t do to increase their participation.
Small example: I know that a sizeable percentage of people with ASD’s have Irlen Syndrome as a comorbidity. For them the issue is solved by screening their viewing area with lenses of a particular colour. So a lot of people with Irlen Syndrome wear coloured specs. This is a great example of a way designers could easily use technology to help – an overlaying div with a semi-transparent background PNG of a certain colour and it’s sorted.
_an overlaying div with a semi-transparent background PNG of a certain colour_
That’s totally something some browser app should be offering rather than individual websites. I’d be surprised if one didn’t. Someone should google it. Someone who’s not me.
Well, they may well do. I also haven’t searched for it and there’s definitely a need to take some responsibility on behalf of the browser manufacturers.