Presentation: Intro to Cognitive Accessiblity

Contributed by Dimitri Persaud

Summary

Amy Drayer's presentation on web development from the Accessibility Ambassadors's Monthly Meeting revolved around discussing features that should be implemented to make the web more accessible to those with cognitive impairments/limitations and learning disabilities. There is no "perfect" mind, therefore developing with considerations for cognitive accessibility makes the web a better place for all. Drayer offers eight objectives in designing for cognitive accessibility. These objectives are not a definitive list and may pose some conflicts to standard web practices and each other.

The cognitive accessibility objectives are:

1. Help people understand what things are and how to use them
2. Help people find what they need
3. Use clear and understandable content
4. Help people avoid and correct mistakes
5. Help people maintain focus
6. Ensure processes do not rely on memory
7. Provide help and support
8. Support personalization and adaptation

In designing for cognitive accessibility, we must ensure that the website is clear, easy to understand, and logical. The content, elements, and controls we add should have a clear purpose. These elements should remain static unless the user choses to move them. Webpages should be laid out with a logical hierarchy and broken into chunks with headers to improve readability and scanability. That content should not be overbearing. Websites should also not interrupt the user through means such as popup ads or notifications. When users must perform some task enter an input, the requirements and purposes should be obvious. Users should be able to amend mistakes they have made and be able to review them. User processes should not be heavily reliant on their memory either, such as forcing them to remember previously mentioned info or requiring captchas. The results of a user's actions should be clearly defined so that the user is comfortable with their decision.

As mentioned, there is no definitive list for cognitive accessibility. Furthermore, there are no proper automated tests for cognitive accessibility. Web developers should therefore pay consideration to their users and rely upon user groups to best understand their needs.

Takeaways

• Automated tests are not perfect and should not be relied upon.
• There is no definitive way to design for cognitive accessibility so keep your users in mind.
• Designing with cognitive accessibility in mind ensures a better experience for all.
• Always be straightforward and clear to users.

Reflection

Many of the design elements mentioned in this presentation seem like obvious things to implement, but in retrospect, so many websites do not. In fact, these websites may even willingly implement features that are of direct contradiction to Drayer's cognitive accessibility outline. One example of this, popup ads, serves the only purpose of making the site's owners money. While it is illogical to believe they should not make money, it is also absolutely unnecessary for websites to be running ads as aggressively as they do. Thinking about just how many websites abide by this practice, it makes me realize that the internet is far from being accessible to all. Fortunately, some websites and organizations are making the push to become more accessible to all. Thus, it will be my job as a technical communicator to make sure my contributions to the web lend to this movement.

This presentation further affirms the idea that when we design for average users, we design for no one. In developing for these cases, we develop for a sort of false ideal person that is using the website. Averages are not always representative of a population and can make that population appear to be different than how it actually is. Thus, the website will not be of use to those who lie at the most extreme of cases. However, when we design with those extremes in mind, then we can create a website that works for everyone.